


Battered and Bruised

by pagen_godess



Category: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Puppet Cloud Strife, Sacrifice, Seizures, Sickfic, Warning: Hojo (Compilation of FFVII), Whump, Whumptober 2020, Withdrawal, of the ritual sort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 28,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pagen_godess/pseuds/pagen_godess
Summary: Sometimes life leaves you battered and bruised.A series of fic's based on whumptober prompts. Mostly Cloud centric.Tag's will be updated to the best of my ability as I post new chapters.
Relationships: Angeal Hewley & Cloud Strife, Genesis Rhapsodos & Cloud Strife, Zack Fair & Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 54
Kudos: 140





	1. Let’s Hang Out Sometime (Hanging)

Gloved fingers dug into the thick green vine like tentacle that had wrapped around his throat like a vice. 

It wasn’t supposed to be a Malboro. They’d been sent to eliminate a small nest of  Grashtrike that one of the maintenance crews had reported seeing in the Corkscrew Tunnel. The Malboro had not been in their mission brief. If it had been then there’d have been at least one SOLDIER assigned to their group. 

There had been no assigned SOLDIER and upon arrival to the catwalk that was marked down as holding the nest there had been no Grashtrike’s. Just an empty nest with no monsters in sight. Cloud and his squad had made confused noises at each other as Ant double checked their location on both the digital and paper maps he had of the tunnel. 

Then they’d spent at least ten minutes debating on whether the man who had reported the nest or the person who had typed it up to be assigned had gotten the catwalk number wrong. It hadn’t really mattered in the end. There was nothing they could do other than check the catwalks going towards the next exit in case the nest was on one of those.

“Take a picture so we can add it to the report.” Mitchel had suggested as they’d given the area one more quick once over. Cloud had agreed and it was there that he’d apparently made his grave mistake.

He’d walked under the catwalk so he could climb up the stairs on the other side and as soon as one of his feet had stepped on the catwalk’s shadow something had wrapped around his neck and yanked him upwards. Cloud’s gun had clattered to the ground as the other members of his squad had shouted in shocked surprise.

Now Cloud could do nothing but dangle and choke as he tried to free himself. A fall from the catwalk would hurt but it was better than being eaten by the Malboro. That was of course provided he didn’t suffocate first because the closer Cloud got to the Malboro the tighter the tentacle around his throat became. 

Breathing was becoming more difficult as the tentacle wrapped around itself. A dull ringing had already started in his ears.The sound of bullets pelting past Cloud and into the Malboro barely pulled his attention away from his weakening attempts to free himself.

Some small part of Cloud that could still focus on other things was grateful for this squad’s continued attempts to help but he knew they were in vain. The bullets from their standard rifles wouldn’t do near enough damage to the monster in time to save his life. They’d need magitech rifles with fire materia equipped to stand a chance and that wasn’t something any of them could afford to buy.

They needed help but help wasn’t something that would make it in time. 

They were fucked or at least he was fucked because nothing short of a miracle was going to get Cloud free at this rate.

Another loop of tentacle wrapped around his neck as the Malboro pulled him closer. Another desperate attempt to draw a breath that wouldn’t make it down his throat. The ringing in his ears grew louder as Cloud’s vision began to dim. Black eating away at the green monster before him. 

Cloud felt his fingers twitch against the tentacle around his neck before his arm’s dropped all strength suddenly gone.

He hoped that the other members of his squad made it out safely and that they wouldn’t blame themselves for what was about to happen to him. They couldn’t have known about the Malboro and they certainly couldn’t have done more than they’d been trying to do.

Another loop and even the ringing in his ears is beginning to fade.

Another and Cloud thinks his knees might hit the railing of the catwalk.

Foul breath brushing against his face and Cloud thinks he might hear someone shout his name. The voice might have been a familiar one if he’d been able to hear it over the roaring in his ears.

There’s a moment where Cloud thinks he’s about to meet his end and instead of sharp fangs tearing into his skin he’s falling, the Malburo screaming in agony as the tentacle around his neck slackens.

Then he’s plunging downwards as everything goes dark.

\----------

Things had been going good. Things had been going so good. He had a movie night with Cloud to look forward to and a monster from the lab to hunt down and cut apart.

All in all a good day until he’d turned a corner and found Cloud hanging from one of the monster’s long green tentacles arm’s limp by his side and about to get eaten.

Zack didn’t think about his next move. He simply pulled the Buster Sword from his back, spun a tight circle and let his momentum carry the blade from his hands.

THe Malboro screamed a high pitched and painful sound as the sword impaled it. Zack paid it no mind however instead lunging at Cloud’s falling body. His friend deadweight as he plunged towards the ground. Deadweight as Cloud landed on Zack’s chest and was lowered to the ground.

“Got you Spiky.” Zack muttered as he began to unwind the tentacle from around his friend’s neck. Thankfully the appendage had relaxed enough upon the Malboro’s death that it hadn’t acted as a noose, instead it had loosed enough to allow Cloud to fall without breaking the younger teens neck.

Zack sucked a breath in through his teeth as more and more of Cloud’s neck was exposed. Bruising so deep already that Zack doubted a Curaga could heal them completely. A potion probably wouldn’t be able to help much either even if Cloud could swallow one which Zack was beginning to seriously doubt. Zack had been strangled before he knew that Cloud’s throat would already be swelling.

It was only the small puffs of air exiting Cloud’s nostrils that kept Zack from throwing his friend over his shoulder and high tailing it back to the ShinRa building. Instead Zacks focused on the Cure materia slotted in his bracer. The materia pulsed a soft green once before the same glow wound itself around Cloud’s throat. Zack watched as some of the bruises faded but didn’t quite vanish. 

There was no telling what the mad men in Hojo’s labs had done to the Malboro he’d impaled. Zack couldn’t do anything about that now though. All he could do was heal Cloud to the best of his ability and make sure he was seen by a doctor on the medical floor.

“He gonna be okay?” One of Cloud’s squadmates asked. Zack found he couldn’t quite remember his name. The only one Zack knew on sight was Ant and that was only because he was smaller than Cloud. The other three were all just about the same height and Zack always got them confused with each other.

“He’ll live. It’s gonna be a bitch to swallow for a few days though.”

“Fuck swallowing! He’s lucky that fall didn’t break his damn neck!”

And wasn’t that the truth. Zack had seen hanging bodies before. He’d watched as a man who’d been selling troop movements to Wutai had been hanged for his crimes. He can still remember the sound of his bones snapping as the man’s body had plunged downwards. 

If Zack held Cloud a little tighter after that memory flashed through his brain then none of his friends' squadmates mentioned it.

“One of you guys care to grab my sword for me?” Zack asked as he pushed to his feet. He heard one of them answer but he couldn’t have said which one it was. All that mattered at that moment was Cloud’s still body softly cradled in his arms and the soft huffs of air making their way out of his damaged throat. 


	2. In the Hands of the Enemy (Kidnapped)

His head was pounding and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Neither of those things were a good sign, especially considering the last thing he could remember was running down the hallway of one of Hojo’s abandoned labs. Ever since Deepground they’d been hunting the hell holes down and clearing them out. 

Everyone was tired of Hojo’s little projects popping out of the woodwork and fucking things up. Apparently that plan hadn’t worked as well as Cloud had hoped because here he was sitting in a cell in a room that looked like it hadn’t been touched in six or seven years.

It was the clearly unused state of the room that helped keep a deep seeded prickle of fear at bay. If he’d been drugged and dragged in the dust on the floor would have been disturbed and from what little Cloud could see there wasn’t a footprint anywhere in the room in front of him. 

So that meant that he’d had to have fallen or been dropped from above. A quick glance towards the ceiling revealed nothing more than what looked like ceiling tiles. It was possible that the tiles pulled back so a drop down could form but if there was one there Cloud couldn’t see it. The grooves were too well hidden. 

“Fucking great.” Cloud muttered as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The room remained just as dark as it had been after he flipped it open.

“Figures.” Cloud muttered as he closed the busted phone and put it back into his pocket. He really needed to get one of the ones that had been modified for SOLDIER use. Tifa had been nagging him to get one for months but Cloud hadn’t seen the point. Not when the phone he’d had was still working.

But without his phone he wouldn’t know how long he’d been unconscious and he couldn’t call for help. Which meant that for now he was on his own.

Cloud’s fingers clenched and the empty feeling had him looking for First Tsunagi. He’d had the blade in hand before he’d blacked out but now it was gone. Blue eyes darted around the floor in case he’d missed it but the blade was nowhere to be seen. 

Hopefully one of the others would pick it up for him if he didn’t find it on his way out. He did at least still have his materia bracer and the materia equipped to it so he at least had that going for him. Now he just needed to get out of the cell.

Giving the cell he was standing in a quick once over Cloud made his way towards the door. Reaching through the bars he ran his fingers over where the door and the rest of the cell met. There was no lock so that meant the door had to be electronic. The door had probably been remote controlled.

That was good especially if the room had been abandoned for as long as it looked. Cloud braced a foot on one of the bars near him and wrapped his hands around the bars behind where the door and cell met. A single hard pull had the door screeching open a couple of inches. 

Just as Cloud had thought. While Cloud hadn’t quite gotten the physical strength that most SOLDIERs had been granted he was still stronger than most base level humans. Strong enough to pry the cell door in front of him open with a few tugs. 

The scraping noise made him want to poke his eardrums out for a few hours of silence but he could live with that. 

“No problem.” Cloud said as he walked out of the cell and into the room proper. It was mostly empty having been cleared out when it had been abandoned. A large (and old) computer terminal sat against one wall. A line of shelves rested on another. A single filing cabinet (perhaps left behind) with a bad drawer sat crooked near a busted chair and a badly dented overturned table.

An observation room perhaps.

A swell of pity burst in Cloud’s chest for whatever poor creature had once been trapped in this room. His mind flashed to Nanaki and the tube he’d been trapped in and Vincent locked away in his coffin.

There was a split second where his vision flashed green and he could see Zack floating in the mako tank next to his.

Cloud winched at the flicker of memory, his hand twitching towards his head for a second before he forced it back down to his side. The flash of memory was enough to get his heart pounding and to get his feet moving towards the door. Several steps and gloved fingers were wrapping around the handle. A twist and the door didn’t budge.

Cloud cursed because of course it was locked. Not that that would stop him from getting out of course but it was annoying.

Taking a few steps back Cloud lifted his hand and focused on the thunder materia at his wrist. The sudden smell of ozone was a welcome relief from the smell of dust and the soft crackle of static chased away the silence and hid the sound of Cloud’s rapidly quickening heartbeat.

There was a slip second of silence. Of magic being held at the ready before Cloud flung his hand forward. A sharp bolt of lighting launched from his fingertips and struck the door in front of him.

There was a split second of bright light…

Pain sharp and burning through his body as the door in front of him shimmered with a barrier spell.

Cloud hit the floor, his body convulsing as arcs of electricity danced over his form. 

The door was spelled. The room was abandoned but the door was spelled. 

That was fine. Barrier spells could be broken if you hit them enough. All he had to do was watchout for the backlash from his own spells. Or if he really wanted to he could just throw the chair at the door until the spell broke.

Throwing the chair at the door was what he should have done first actually. Barrier spells protected from physical and magical damage. He’d have known about the barrier if he’d thrown the chair first.

Climbing shakingly to his feet Cloud glared at the door before making his way towards the corner of the room where the chair sat. If he was a little unbalanced while he walked only he was there to know about it.

The few steps it took him to cross the room were shaky and uneven. He’d hit himself with a strong enough spell he was lucky he hadn’t paralized himself.

Reaching out with a shaking hand Cloud wrapped his fingers around the chair’s backrest and picked it up from the floor. His steps on the way back across the room were more firm the tingling and muscle spasms fading away as his advanced healing kicked in. 

Once he was certain that his aim would be true and that the chair wouldn’t hit him if it bounced back Cloud heaved the chair forward. It hit the barrier spell with a crack and shattered into several pieces that scattered and bounced around the room. Cloud had to twist away from a flung chair leg.

It sadly hadn’t been enough to break the barrier. Which meant he’d need to hit it with another spell. It’d be faster and easier than throwing the filing cabinet or the table at the door.

“This is such bullshit.” Cloud muttered as he began to channel mana again. His strongest thunder spell should be enough to break the spell on the door and get him out. Then he could find his way back to the others and get the fuck out of there. Preferably with his sword.

A sharp harsh buzzing filled Cloud’s ears as he pulled his hand back. The spell slipped from his hold as the sudden noise broke his concentration. Cloud winced and jerked his head around to try and find the source.

“ _ Please don’t do that Mr. Strife. I’m afraid you won’t like the consequences. _ ” The voice was soft and femmine and might have been kind if Cloud couldn’t hear that same tone that Hojo used to use buried beneath the polite words.

“Where the fuck am I and who the hell are you?” Cloud growled as he turned his body towards the computer monitor.

  
“ _ You’re here with us and we’re going to do great things Mr. Strife. Such great things. Things that Hojo never dared to dream of doing and it’s all thanks to you and those wonderfully adaptable gene’s flowing through your blood _ .” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The start of a kidnapping. Might expand this one into a seperate fic eventually.


	3. My Way or the Highway (Held at Gunpoint)

He’d been waiting for this. Waiting for the little ShinRa mutt to turn on them. Waiting for Cloud Strife’s true colors to show and now they had. He’d been foolish enough to trust his men’s safety to Strife and now both Biggs and Wedge had paid the price for his foolishness. 

He’d fallen behind the three of them taking out some of the slower monsters hidden in the piles of junk that lined the outskirts of Sector 7. He’d just taken down the last Basilisk when he’d heard Wedge scream.

It hadn’t been the normal kind of Wedge scream either this one had been terrified and hurt. The echo of gunfire that had followed had him running as fast as he could towards where the sound had originated from. 

He knew the others hadn’t been too far away and it only took a few turns for him to catch up to them. And what a sight it had been when he had.

Both Biggs and Wedge lay bloodied and still on the ground. Strife had been hovering over Wedge his blade ready as if he was waiting to see if he’d need to strike the downed man again. As if there was a chance that whatever blow Strife had struck hadn’t killed him.

Some small part of Barret noticed the blood running down Strife’s arm and he hoped that Wedge had been the one to put the wound there. Barret hoped that Wedge had at least tried to put up a fight instead of letting Strife strike him down from behind.

“You no good dirty fucking dog.” Barret hissed through clenched teeth as he lifted his arm and took aim. “I’m gonna blow your fucking brains out.”

Strife jerked as if he hadn’t heard Barret approach him. Which was bullshit because the little shit heard everything no matter how quiet any of them were. 

“Advanced hearing.” He’d explained once after he’d commented on one of their plans for their next hit on Shinra.

“Barret, it’s not what it looks like.” Strife said as he took a step forward his free hand up as if to caution against the violence Barret was about to commit. 

“It looks like you cut them down.” Barret snarled as rage began to tear at his insides. 

He’d let this man into his life because Tifa swore that they could trust him. She’d known Strife since they were children and he’d help them so long as they paid him. 

“Cloud’s a little awkward but he’s a good person.” Tifa had insisted.

Tifa had been wrong. Whatever Cloud Strife had been before Shinra wasn’t what he was now. ShinRa had done to him what ShinRa did to everyone. They’d pulled a child in and turned him into a heartless killer.

A killer he’d let near his daughter and his friends. And now Wedge and Biggs had paid the price for his foolishness. Now Barret needed to put Strife down like the dog he was even if it meant that Tifa would never forgive him for it.

The sharp sound of gunfire filled the air as Barret fired on the blond in front of him. Strife jerked his sword in front of him so that it was acting as a shield. Bullets sparked off of the metal and bounced in the opposite direction.

“Barret, listen to me.” Strife snarled. “They’re fine. The blood isn’t theirs.”

Barret couldn’t hear him however. Not over the ringing in his ears. Not past the rage tearing him apart inside. He’d warned the mutt that he’d blow his head off and he’d do it now even if it killed him.

Who was he kidding this was definitely going to kill him. He just hoped that Tifa took good care of Marlene once he was gone.

Barret jerked to the right as Strife darted away from him. The blonde’s movements were frantic as he tried to stay out of the way of Barrett's never ending barrage. Not that Barret wasn’t giving it his all. All he had to do was keep the mutt at a distance. Wear him down and wear him out and then he could fill him full of holes. 

A bright flare of magic crashed into the pile of junk behind him forcing Barret to stop firing and roll out of the way of the tumbling junk. Barret’s eyes darted frantically as he rolled to a stop and took a knee.

There Strife was heading right for him.

Bullets tore up the ground in front of him as Barret fired. 

Blood.

A sharp noise of pain as a bullet tore into Strife’s thigh.

Barret snarled as he climbed to his feet and aimed his gun at the man kneeling in the dirt beneath him. Blood trickled down Strife’s leg staining the dirt beneath him.

“Got anything to say before I put you down mutt?” 

Strife gave him a flat annoyed look before he rolled his eyes. “You’re under a fucking spell you stupid shit.”

That said Strife lunged upwards, his sword swinging as Barret opened fire. The next few seconds were a blur of movement and a sharp pain tearing through the side of his head.

It was enough of a blow to knock Barret to the ground. The world went black for a few seconds before coming back into sharp focus. There was a moment of silence before Barret felt his ears pop and then Wedge and Biggs were groaning as Barret pushed himself to his knees. His eyes darted to where Biggs had climbed to his feet and was helping Wedge to his own. Both of them had rather large bumps on the side of their heads. 

The complete and utter rage he’d been feeling moments before had faded as if it had never been. Both of his men were fine other than the bruises and he didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed that before.

“If there’s going to be a round 2 tell me now so I can drink a potion.” 

Barret’s head jerked from his men to where Strife was sitting in the dirt a few feet away from him. Barret winced as he took in the bloodied man before him. A shot to the leg and now at least three bullets in his arm and one in his shoulder. 

“Fuck merc, I…” Barret trailed off because he didn’t know what to say. He’d spent the past several minutes trying to kill the man.

“Shut the fuck up. You were under a status effect, same as the other two were when I knocked them out.” Strife said as he pushed himself to his feet. 

Barret watched him sway for a moment before he managed to straighten himself out. The SOLDIER had just given him an out and Barret was going to take it. At least for now.

“Shit man.” Biggs cursed as he finally came within view of the two of them. Wedge only a few steps behind.

Barret pushed himself to his feet and reached down to wrap his hand around Cloud’s shoulder. 

“Let’s go get you patched up merc.” He said as he pulled Cloud to his feet. Wedge was quick to dart around to Strife’s free side and throw his arm over his shoulder for support. If Strife complained it wasn’t anything that any of them could quite make out. His voice a soft grumble. 

“We need to pull those bullet’s out before you start healing around them.” And oh boy wouldn’t that be a shit ton of fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couldn't resist having Barret be the one to shoot at Cloud. I've been wanting to do an ally attacking fic for a bit. Not 100% certain if Barret's confused or going Berserk in this. Might be a little of both.


	4. Running Out of Time (Collapsed Building)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me 4 chapter to get to clack. Slight trigger warning for a character getting impaled. No gory details I promise.

The building had fallen.

The building had fallen and he hadn’t heard from Cloud since.

He was so fucking stupid for lettting Cloud go on his own.

“Help them, Zack,” Cloud had said, “I’m going to go help get people out of the buildings.”

So he’d gone and helped the others take down the monsters that were tearing through the streets. Gone to do what he did best. 

Behemoths. So many Behemoths tearing through the town. He’d never seen so many of them in one place before. Behemoths only grouped together after mating season and only then it was until the young were able to hunt and fight for themselves. After that the prides separated and they were solitary monsters again.

This hadn’t been that.

This had been some sort of freak attack or something. Seven or maybe eight (possibly nine) of the fuckers had been tearing through towns eating people and wrecking shit. So ShinRa had sent a group of SOLDIERs and infantry to deal with the problem.

And deal with it they had. Now they had to turn their attention from killing monsters to search and rescue and Zack knew where he was going to start because Cloud was good at his job and his last transmission before things had gone wrong had included the building he’d been helping evacuate.

A building that had never gotten an all clear call.

So now Zack was running as fast as his tired feet would carry him towards his boyfriends last known location.

Running past fires and civilians crumpled in the streets. None of the things passing him by mattered now. All that mattered was Cloud.

Heart pounding in his chest Zack’s footsteps slowed as he approached the building that Cloud had been helping evacuate. Zack felt his heart stop. While it hadn’t fallen completely at least half of the building had crumpled down.

There were infantrymen digging through the rubble shouting at each other as they moved debris out of the way. 

“How many are buried?” Zack asked the medic standing near the rubble.

“As far as we know there are four buried, three civilians and one infantryman.” 

Zack nodded before he darted out onto the pile and began digging himself. If he was lucky Cloud wouldn’t be too far down. If he was lucky the man he loved would still be alive when they found him.

Time went funny after that. Seconds or hours or even days could have passed Zack by without him knowing. The shouts of the men around him didn’t matter to him. If a cry of “I found one” wasn’t about one of the other infantrymen finding Cloud then he ignored it and kept digging.

Brick and metal shifted under his feet as Zaack lifted a chunk of debris and tossed it towards an area that had already been cleared. The one piece gone had everything under Zacks feet shifting downwards.

Zack yelped and pinwheeled his arms in an attempt to keep his balance. It wasn’t any use however because his feet slid out from underneath him fast enough that not even his SOLDIER reflexes could have helped him. 

Zack slid several feet before he crashed into a small hole that he was thankfully too big to fit through. 

“You alright Commander?” One of the infantrymen called down to him.

Focus broken Zack turned his attention upwards. “Yeah! I’m good.” 

“Need a rope?”

“No, I should be able to get back up onc…” Zack let his sentience trail off as his ears picked up a soft sound over the shifting rubble. A small wheezy cry was coming from the space under the hole. 

“Commander Fair?”

“I found one.” Zack said his voice lower than he intended it to be. He took a second, cleared his throat and tried again. “I found one!”

Zack started digging without waiting to hear the infantrymen’s reply. He had a feeling that while Cloud wasn’t the one crying that he was down there with the little voice that was and Zack was going to get to them even if it meant digging until his hands were bloody.

The more Zack dug the more the debris under him clattered into the hole in front of him. By the time he’d dug the hole wide enough for his body to slip through he was already falling. Zack landed with a clatter, the buster sword hitting the ground with a ‘ **clang** ’ as it was knocked from his back.

Zack’s head cocked to the side as he climbed to his feet. The tired weeping was definitely louder which was as good a sign as any that whomever he was hearing was nearby.

“Hello.” Zack called as he picked up his blade and slid it back onto the magnetic holster on his back.

There was a soft sniffle before a small meek voice called out a “Hello” in turn.

Zack tuned a slow circle listening.

“Where are you?” He asked.

“We’re over here.” The small voice replied.

The reply was enough for Zack to be able to make his way across the room towards a pile of larger pieces of rubble. He could just make out the sound of another person buried with the kid (because that small voice could be nothing but a child) and from what little he could hear of their breathing things didn’t sound good.

And he knew deep down in his bones that it was Cloud buried under the rubble with the kid. He knew it like he knew the weight of his blade on his back. Knew it like he knew the sound of the others' heartbeat when he was tucked away in Zack’s arms on the night’s they were able to spend together.

It didn’t stop the horror or the hurt that tore through him when he’d cleared the rubble away enough to reveal Cloud and the child that was clutched in his arms.

Face bloody and clothes torn. The worst part however was the piece of metal that had buried itself into his stomach. Zack was careful not to knock into anything as he crawled into the space with Cloud and the child.

“Hey there beautiful.” Zack almost whispered as he reached out a hand to cradle Cloud’s cheek with. Hazy blue eyes flicked open a bit and turned his direction.

Cloud swallowed and his tongue flicked out of his mouth to wet his lips before he tried to force words past his lips.

The first attempt was a failure but the second was a success.

“Z-a-c-k..” Cloud whispered his voice harsh and dry.

Zack gave him the best grin he was able to given the circumstances. “Hey there Spiky. Got yourself into a bit of trouble huh.”

Cloud huffed. A harsh breath of air forcing its way out of his lungs instead of the laughter he’d probably been trying for. 

“Yeah.” There was a pause. “Can you get her out?” 

Zack’s eyes darted down to the still weeping child tucked away in Cloud’s arms. He looked back up at Cloud before nodding.

“Sure thing.” He said as he reached out and pulled the child away from Cloud. She didn’t struggle or cry out as Zack pulled her away. She simply tucked her head into Zack’s neck and continued to weep.

“I’ll be back in flash.” 

Cloud laughed as Zack carefully climbed out of the hole and into the basement. It didn’t take long for him to get back to the hole he’d fallen down in. He could hear some of the infantrymen talking above his head. Discussing the best way to expand the hole above Zack’s head without it collapsing.

“Hey got a kid down here!” Zack called upwards.

There was a scramble as one or two of the infantrymen slid down to the hole. One poked his head in.

“Just the kid?” He asked.

Zack shook his head then looked down at the girl.

“Right. Medic?” 

Zack cleared his throat. “Yeah. He needs a medic.”

The trooper nodded before pulling his head back out of the hole. Zack could hear talking for a moment before the trooper’s head popped back into the hole.

“Think you can hand her up?”

“Think so.” Zack said as he took a few steps forward. It took a bit of stretching on both their parts but in the end the child was passed from one set of hands to another. 

“Commander, how bad is it?” The other infantrymen asked.

“Not good but he’ll live. Get a medic down here will you.” Zack ordered.

“It’ll take a minute or two. We’re spread a little thin but we’ll have one down to you asap.”

Zack nodded before moving back towards Cloud.

He was right where Zack had left him a few minutes before. Eyes closed and breathing quiet. His eyes twitched but didn’t open as Zack crawled back over to him.

“She out?” Cloud whispered.

“She’s out.” Zack answered as he reached out and took one of Cloud’s hands. “Just hold tight Spiky. We’ll have you out in a bit.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look I'm behind again. Probably going to be a semi constant state with me. Sorry but that means that the day's I do good you guys will get a couple of chapters at least. Also if you catch any of the double lettering my keyboard like to do let me know.


	5. Where do you think You’re Going (On the Run)

Cloud stumbled.

Feet sinking into dirt turned to mud. Nibel winters could be harsh but the beginning of spring could be just as deadly if you weren’t careful. The snowmelt was quick to overflow creeks and ponds and sometimes when there was just too much of it landslides were just as likely as an avalanche.

And when you were trying to run, the mud sucked your feet down and refused to let them go without a fight.

It was a fight that Cloud had to win because if he didn’t then he’d get caught and that was the last thing he wanted.

He couldn’t go back to the lab. He’d rather be eaten by a dragon than go back to the sterile tables and gleaming scalpels.

No more tests.

No more running till he couldn’t. No more water that turned out to be poison. No more sharp sounds that made his ears want to bleed. No more lights so bright they left him blind afterwards.

Just no more.

He couldn’t do it anymore. So he’d waited and when the time was right he’d wrapped his hands around a guards neck and twisted.

Then he’d ran as fast as his feet would carry him. It wouldn’t take long for them to start chasing him so he had to get as far away as possible.

So he’d ran towards the mountains. Ran towards the tree’s that had been his hiding place when he’d been young and was tired of listening to the townspeople call him bastard.

He knew the woods and the cliffs and crevices like the back of his hand. He’d be safer there than he would be if he’d run towards the plains. The plains were wide open with nowhere to hide.

The woods offered shelter. Shelter and safety and the further in he went the safer he was. Cloud knew how to avoid the wolves and the other beasts that hunted amongst the tree. He knew where there was a cave system so twisted they’d never find him.

Cloud knew where to go so that the gods of his people would protect him. He’d have little to offer after so log of nothing but he knew that they’d protect him and when things were safe again. When he was safe again he’d slay a dragon in their names and bathe the altar he’d prayed at as a child in it’s blood. 

He’d offer them a fest that no god would sneer at. One that would make any man who laid eyes on it weep in envy.

Cloud’s foot caught a root and he was thrown forward. The ground rushed up to kiss him and leave him more battered than he’d been before. 

“Get up,” Cloud muttered to himself. “Get up and keep running.”

He swayed slightly as he climbed to his feet. His first several steps were more like stumbles, the ankle that had caught the root throbbing in pain. 

It barely slowed him down. He’d run with worse injuries. Been made to train after they’d shot him full of holes and cut muscles and tendons so he’d be fighting with a handicap.

He could run with a bad ankle. A twisted ankle was nothing to him in the long run.

Nothing was going to stop him from moving forward. Nothing short of death.

“CLOUD!” 

A sharp scream cut through the air and for half a second the familiar voice made him slow his pace. It didn’t last.

“Don’t slow down.” Cloud growled to himself. Don’t slow down because while the voice had a ring of familiar to it he didn’t know it. Didn’t know the person calling out to him and while once he might have turned back to help those days were over.

Nothing could make him go back to that place.

Nothing.

A sharp high pitched scream had Cloud jerking to a stop and turning his breath coming out in pants.

“Tifa?” He muttered. But it couldn’t be Tifa because Tifa was dead. She’d died the day Sephiroth had burned down Nibelheim. She’d died with the rest of the town. Cloud’s fingers curled inwards before he turned and started running again.

A hundred feet later another scream cut through the air. This one begging for help.

This one sounded like his mother. It took everything he had in him to ignore it and keep running. He wasn’t far from the cave system where the gods altar lay. Just a few more minutes and he could hide.

“CLOUD!” THe same scream from before. The same voice, the same tone. The same down to the length of the scream.

The scream was fake. Which meant that the other scream’s were likely fake as well. That eased a knot in Cloud’s chest that he hadn’t realized was there until it was gone.

As the cave came into view Cloud’s footsteps slowed. Safety was only a handful of steps away.

A sharp pain tore through his stomach driving Cloud to his knees. His hands clutched at the pained area and were quickly soaked in blood. 

Footsteps behind him.

A shadow on the ground.

“Just where do you think you're going?” A gruff voice asked as something metal was pressed against the back of his head.

Cloud coughed blood bubbling past his lips.

There was a moment of silence before a trigger cocked and….

Cloud stumbled.

Feet sinking into dirt turned to mud. Nibel winters could be harsh but the beginning of spring could be just as deadly if you weren’t careful. The snowmelt was quick to overflow creeks and ponds and sometimes when there was just too much of it landslides were just as likely as an avalanche.

And when you were trying to run, the mud sucked your feet down and refused to let them go without a fight.

It was a fight that Cloud had to win because if he didn’t then he’d get caught and that was the last thing he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if this is a repeating day or a dream or even purgatory. I just know that sometimes fic's like this are fun. Also the first one that wasn't over a thousand words. Let's see if I can manage another under a thousand.


	6. Please…. (No More)

Green.

Everything around him was so very green even when he knew it shouldn’t have been.

There should have been colors other than green. Red, yellow and blue. So many shades of blue but instead everything was green.

It was like staring at the world through the glass of his mako tank. Only now there weren’t any ripples and no one took him out for testing anymore.

Now there was just Zack’s voice and Zack’s strength helping him along. Some part of him didn’t quite understand why exactly Zack was carrying him around. Wouldn’t it be better if Zack left him behind?

What use could a failure like him be? He couldn’t speak and he couldn’t fight. Couldn’t even move by himself no matter how hard he tried to get his body to. All he could do was listen and watch the world go by and wonder why everything had to be green.

He was so very tired of it. Wished he could close his eyes against it and see nothing for a while. He thinks he’d tried that once. He’d let his eyes close and tried to rest only to wake to Zack begging him to stay. 

Zack begging for him to breathe and a cool tingling sensation flowing through his body.

So he’d breathed while his lungs fought him every step of the way.

He thinks that Zack had cried after. Cried and wrapped his arms around him in a hug that was so tight it had made his ribs ache. He hadn’t really understood why Zack had been crying but he felt bad either way.

He didn’t try to sleep anymore after that.

If him sleeping made Zack fearful and sad then he wouldn’t do it. He’d add sleep to the list of things he couldn’t do. It was a long list that never got any shorter.

“I think we can rest here for the night Cloud.” Zack said as he set him down.

That was another thing. Zack called him Cloud all the time. Well Cloud and Spikey and sometimes he called him beautiful but he didn’t know how Zack meant that. But mostly Zack called him Cloud.

He knew it was his name even if it didn’t much feel like it. He didn’t feel like a Cloud. He felt like something else. Someone else even but he didn’t know what or who he felt like. Only that it wasn’t this person that was supposed to be Cloud.

But he trusted Zack so if Zack wanted him to be Cloud then Cloud he would be. As much as he could be at least.

“I think there’s a river nearby.” Zack said as he walked out of Cloud’s visual range. “What do you say to getting clean? We must be getting pretty smelly by now.”

He didn’t say anything but if Zack wanted to get clean then that’s what they’d do. It’s not like he could stop him.

As Zack walked back into his field of vision Cloud couldn’t help but wonder what colors the other man really was. He felt like he’d known once but like the rest of him that knowledge had been eaten away.

“Alright, let's get going.” Zack said as he knelt down and scooped Cloud up into his arms. The trip went by much faster than it would have had Zack walked him to the water. He never understood why Zack insisted on having him stubble along beside him so often when they’d go much faster if he was carried. Zack seemed to have a good reason for it he supposed.

“Alright let’s get out of these clothes and into the water. It’ll be cold but something’s better than nothing.”

Cloud drifted as Zack undressed him his thoughts going slightly fuzzy and his focus on the world around him wavering. Zack’s voice faded to background noise.

Eventually he was picked up again and they were moving. Sloshing met his ears as Zack waded into the river. 

Cold touched his fingers sending a shock up his arm. He shivered.

“Sorry Cloudy.” Zack apologized. “I promise when we get to Midgar you’ll never have to take a cold bath again if you don’t want to. I’ll heat up water in a barrel if I have to but for now this is all we got.”

He was going to hold Zack to that promise if he ever woke from his constant state of not being.

Water trickled down the sides of his face as Zack ran his fingers through his hair. Cloud knew he was being careful to not get water in his eyes and he was grateful for it.

“Almost done.” Zack said after what seemed like forever.

Cloud could feel him turning. Heading back to the shore. 

Only things fell apart before they made it. Cloud heard Zack curse as he slipped and as the water rushed up around them.

Cloud had half a second of the green tinged night sky before he was being plunged back into the mako tank.

Fear sudden and sharp filled his lungs and his mind with fuzz.

“No,” Some part of his mind moaned in despair. “No more mako. Please no more mako.”

“No more mako.” He was so tired of it devouring bits and pieces of who he was.

Hadn’t he given it enough already? Why did they need to put him back in the tank?

He’d do better. He promised he’d do better. He’d do whatever they wanted him to do if it meant they wouldn’t put him back in the tank again. He’d do whatever testing they wanted. Even the ones where they cut bits and pieces of him away. He’d drink whatever they wanted him to no matter how much it burned to swallow.

“Please no more mako.” 

Maybe they’d heard him because an eternity later he was being lifted back out of the liquid. Strong arms wrapped around his shivering body and he thought he might be coughing.

“Shit! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry Cloud!” 

As the world around him began to fade he couldn’t help but wonder. Who was Cloud? And why was the man carrying him sorry?

And why was everything green?


	7. I’ve Got You (Carrying)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a bit of sick fic.

“You don’t have to carry me.” Cloud muttered into Zack’s shirt as the dark haired man carried him towards the elevator. 

“I know I don't, besides maybe I like carrying you. Did you ever think of that?” Zack muttered his voice lower than his usual loud and happy volume. Not that Cloud was too surprised by Zack’s thoughtfulness. The older man was great at telling when Cloud’s head was hurting and was more than willing to lower his voice until his headache went away.

Not that this one was likely to do much more than dim a bit until he was feeling better. Headaches were an almost constant thing when Cloud was sick and there wasn’t much that could usually be done about them.

“Are you just going to carry me around the entire time I’m sick?” Cloud asked.

“Yes, if it helps you feel better faster.” Zack admitted with a grin. “I’d carry you around all the time if you’d let me.” 

Their chatter came to a halt as they approached the elevator Cloud reaching out to press the button that would open the doors. Once the doors had opened and Cloud had punched the number for their floor their conversation resumed.

“You can’t carry me around all the time. You have work.” Cloud coughed into Zack’s shirt. “Sorry.” He added a moment later.

Zack only hummed and rubbed a hand across Cloud’s back. “It’s okay man. Honestly you could puke on me right now and I wouldn’t be mad.”

“You say that like I haven't puked on you before.” 

“I kind of deserved that one.” Zack admitted. Tossing his friend over his shoulder and spinning him around had seemed like a fun idea until Cloud’s motion sickness had kicked in and he’d pucked all over Zack’s back. Some small part of Zack knew that Kunsel still had the video saved to his phone to use against him later.

Cloud huffed a soft laugh before he coughed again. It was a sharp harsh cough that had him curling into himself as much as he could.

Zack shifted his hold on Cloud slightly and stepped forward and out of the elevator as the doors opened. Their hallway was quiet, the only noise coming from the sick man in his arms. Their door was one of the first in the hallway and for that Zack was thankful.

“Alright gotta put you down for a moment.” Zack said as he set Cloud on his feet. One arm wrapped around the blonde’s shoulder as he dug through his pants pocket with his free hand. A swipe of his keycard and a flashing green light had the door swishing open and before Cloud had a chance to try and step forward Zack had him back in his arms.

“Do you want to lie on the couch or the bed?” Zack asked as he toed off his boots. There was a moment of silence as Cloud thought it over. Both were equally viable options. The only upside to either room was that the bedroom put him closer to the bathroom and the living room put him closer to the kitchen. Other than that there wasn’t a thing that he could do in one that he couldn’t do in the other and for the next few days that thing was be miserable and sleep.

“Bed.” 

“You got it sweetheart.” Zack said as he cut through their small living room and through the short hallway that led to their bedroom. The room was dark and cool and at that moment nothing looked more soft than the bed that was waiting there for him.

“You get changed real quick and I’ll go get you some water so you can take your first pill.” Zack ordered as he sat Cloud on his feet. The blond didn’t have it in him to argue instead he shuffled over to the dresser that housed his few items of clothing and dug out a pair of worn pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that might have been Zack’s at one point in time.

Not that it mattered anymore because it was his now. Cloud grunted as he reached down to undo his boot laces. Getting sick while on a mission was never his idea of fun. The mission didn’t stop just because someone got sick and neither did he. 

After what felt like an eternity to him Cloud had freed his feet from his boots and the still damp socks that had been trapped inside of them. Tired eyes blinked and focused on the entrance to their small bathroom. He wanted a shower but at that moment he was too tired to even bother. 

“Take your pill and nap for a bit. Then I’ll run you a bath.” Zack said as he walked back into their room a pill and a cup of water held out in offering. Cloud took the offered pill and popped it into his mouth.

“Please don’t dry swallow that it’s nasty.” Zack said as he unscrewed the top of the water bottle and handed it to Cloud as well.

The cold water was heaven against Cloud’s dry throat. “Just because you can’t do it doesn’t mean it’s nasty.” Cloud said after he’d drained the rest of the bottle dry.

“Not even Sephiroth can dry swallow a pill. I’ve seen him try.” Zack chuckled. “I thought I was going to have to give him the heimlich maneuver.”

“Well I guess he has to have some flaws I guess.” Cloud said as he started to fight with his uniform. Zack, bless him, was quick to help him get the various belts and buckles undone. Once he’d been stripped down to his boxers Cloud found his gaze drifting back towards the bathroom. 

He still really wanted that bath.

“Later babe, I promise.” Zack said as he kissed Cloud’s cheek. “Last thing I need is you drowning in the tub because I had to leave for a minute and you fell asleep.” 

“Takes more than a minute to drown.” Cloud muttered under his breath as he pulled his shirt over his head. He could hear Zack laughing. 

“You’re always so snippy when you're sick.” Zack said as he leaned in again to kiss Cloud’s nose. Cloud grunted and pulled away. He knew he couldn’t make Zack sick (at least not right now when Zack was at full health) but it didn’t stop him from trying to keep the other away from his face.

“Lean back and I’ll tug your pants off.”

Cloud plopped backwards with a groan. The mattress beneath his back was soft and the comforter on their bed threatened to eat him. Cloud sighed against the ache that was starting to build in his throat. Maybe if he went to sleep now the medicine would have kicked in by the time he woke up to get his bath.

Zack’s voice was a soft buzz in Cloud’s ear’s as he began to drift the last several days crashing into him all at once. Every blink took longer and longer to complete. 

Cloud was barely aware when he felt Zack slip his arms underneath him.

“Let’s get you under the covers.” Zack’s voice was soft in his ear as he shifted Cloud around so he could be tucked in.

A soft kiss pressed against his forehead as Cloud drifted off to sleep.

“You have no idea how much I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another one I'll probably flesh out and make longer eventually. Now off to the next prompt.


	8. Where did Everybody Go? (Abandoned)

They’d told him to wait.

“We’ll be back as soon as possible but we need help to get you out.” They needed help because he’d been knocked down the ravine and nothing his squad carried was long enough to reach him. 

So they’d tossed him what ammo they could and a package of glow sticks because it could get dark fast in the mountains. Cloud would have liked a potion as well but the chances of him actually catching it were slim to none and all the ones he had in his pack had shattered when he’d landed on them. He was lucky he hadn’t ended up with a leg full of glass to go along with the busted ribs and head wound. 

“We’ll be back.” They’d said and Cloud couldn’t remember how long ago that had been. He had no way of telling time. At least not one that was currently working. No phs and no watch because his last watch had been left at base so it could dry out. Too much water in the inside but maybe if he was lucky it’d still work after it had dried out and he wouldn’t have to buy a new one or pay to have the old one repaired.

“We need help to get you out.” But did they really? Sure the sides of the ravine were steep and smooth but a rope would have been enough. They had a rope didn’t they? Cloud thought they did. He could have sworn he’d seen one of the others putting a coil of rope in his pack before they’d left. Rope was something they usually carried. 

Maybe it had been in the pack that the monster had torn apart after Dinnely had slid out of it to avoid being eaten.

That sounded plausible. 

Nervous fingers ran over the length of his rifle. He had ammo and a mostly defendable position. So unless something came up from under him he should be relatively safe. He was a good enough shot. Not the absolute best but he could hit his intended target about 8 times out of 10 so long as his gun was in good shape.

“Relax Strife.” Cloud told himself. “You don’t know how far away the other squads are so this could take awhile.” And he didn’t. They’d all fanned out in different directions to thin out some of the monster nests that were getting too close to the villages in the area. It was standard procedure.

They were doing things by the book. 

Weren’t they?

It seemed like they were but weren’t they supposed to leave someone with him? Or at least leave him a radio so he could let them know if he was in danger.

Fuck.

Had they abandoned him there?

Surely not.

Cloud knew he could be hard to work with sometimes but he’d thought he was getting along pretty well in the new squad. They’d fought a little but no more than Cloud had fought with his old squad really and it was almost always over stupid little things. They were still teenagers after all and sometimes that teen boy rowdiness just happened. Even the higher ups allowed it a smidge. 

“Age and training will wear that out of you in time.” One of the men who’d taught his tactics class had told them. 

But now Cloud was beginning to wonder if their fights hadn’t been so silly after all. Had he offended one of them and not noticed? It was possible. He wasn’t very good with people even after a couple of years working for ShinRa. He still struggled sometimes.

Cloud hissed as he pushed himself to his feet. Ribs screaming and head pounding. If they were going to leave him behind then he was going to find his own way out. There had to be a way out somewhere. All he had to do was find it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short. Just got a call from my boss and found out I might not be working at all this weekend and that I might need to find another job soon. 
> 
> I may expand this one too but I felt like if I tried to extend it anymore in my current mood I'd just drag the quality down.
> 
> On the plus side I have managed to catch up to the proper prompt. See you guys tomorrow.


	9. For the Greater Good (Ritual Sacrifice)

“ _ Hear me Goddess. We bring you these heathens as sacrifice so that your hunger will be stated and our people will thrive. We give you this so our lands will heal and the animals return. _ ”

The voice was fuzzy in Cloud’s ears, the words almost seeming to echo. 

“ _ Goddess, descend from your mountain and feast on those who would see you destroyed instead. _ ”

Mission.

They’d been on a mission. HIm and Zack and a few others that Cloud hadn’t worked with often. There’d been reports from one of the nearby towns. 

People missing. Animals gone. Earth scorched and polluted in an area where no mako reactor resided.

They’d been pointed to the small village of Rottinn after they’d started investigating. So up the mountain they’d gone and on the way up a dread had begun to eat itself into Cloud’s brain. A distant feeling of panic that had some part of his brain begging for him to leave.

This place wasn’t a good place. This place was a place the gods had fled from and if he had any sense in his fool brain he’d grab his comrades and run too.. 

“ _ Goddess we offer you your first sacrifice. This heathen who would spit in your eye. This worshiper of the gods who betrayed and abandoned you. The gods who cast you out and down to us. Come drink the blood from his veins and taste the marrow of his bones. _ ”

Right because Cloud had assumed that the goddess they worshiped was one of the old gods. He’d even gone so far as to say a prayer (for both his own god and their goddess) at the town’s small altar. He’d made an offering of meat, fur, and foraged herbs hoping that perhaps that would help the village warm up to them a bit.

He’d thought it had worked too when one of the elders had brought a jug of warm cider to the old barn they’d been using as further shelter from the cold winds.

“A thank you for your offering.” The man had said as he’d handed the jug to Cloud. He himself hadn’t drank as much as the others had but apparently it’d been enough for none of them to be able to defend themselves when a small mob had come for them a few hours later.

Cloud cracked his eyes slightly as the man’s words swelled somewhere to his right. A soft tug on his wrists confirmed that his hands were indeed bound near his head. A soft cough caused Cloud to winch his ribs aching.

He knew that at least two of them were cracked. The man who had driven his boots into them had been almost as big as Zack. 

Smoke from a nearby fire drifted past Cloud on a cold breeze. Winching slightly Cloud turned his head hoping to catch sight of Zack and the rest of their group. He had to turn his head further than his neck liked but he could just barely make out five other figures laying at the edge of the light cast by the fire. All of them were bound hand and foot except for Zack. 

Zack had almost been wrapped up in rope from what he could tell. It was a smart idea but when it came down to it it wouldn’t hold the other man back for long once he woke up. The only way to pin a SOLDIER down completely, without magic, was to make sure they couldn’t get leverage at all. That wasn’t something that could be done with mere rope.

A rough hand touching his face pulled Cloud’s attention forward.

“You should be honored little heathen. Tonight you will feed our goddess and there is no greater privilege in life than to do so.”

Cloud cringed at the sweet smell wafting on the man’s breath. It smelled like something in the man’s mouth was rotting. It was probably one of the crooked yellow teeth protruding from his gums. 

"If it's sush a privilsh, nngh, whydun you do it?" Cloud slurred. 

The man snorted and muttered something that was too low for Cloud’s still rattled brain to figure out. 

“I would give my life to the goddess if she would have it.” He said his voice much calmer and clearer than it had been a few moments before. “She needs the blood and meat from younger healthier bodies than mine if she is to regain her strength. You and your comrades will be a fine meal especially the SOLDIER.”

Cloud growled at the threat to Zack and the others. “Don’ you dare to’ch em.” Cloud hissed between his teeth.

“Oh, dear boy.” The man offered him another smile. “The only one that will shed blood here tonight is you.”

There was a sharp agonizing pain in Cloud’s gut as the blade slid in and out. Blood immediately soaked his uniform top and the coat he was wearing over it. It wasn’t a wound he’d bleed out from quickly but shock began to set in just as fast as if it had been.

The man said not a word as he walked away. Cloud’s eyes followed him until he walked past the edge of the firelight and into the shadows back towards the village. 

“Zack.” Cloud called his voice quiet. 

A sharp noise of something moving in the treeline.

“Zack.” Cloud’s voice was a little louder this time. He swallowed around panting breaths as the hair along his arms began to stand on end.

He could see it now. Whatever the man had been talking about. A great mass slowly crawling forward towards the fire light. Towards the scent of Cloud’s blood.

Cloud tugged at the rope around his wrists hands twisting as he tried and failed to get either of his hands free. All he was doing was rubbing his wrists raw. Not that it much mattered to him for the closer the thing in front of him got the harder Cloud pulled.

“ZACK!” Cloud finally managed to scream. 

The taste hit him before the smell did. Overly sweet and pungent in the back of Cloud’s mouth. The same smell that was waifed from the man’s mouth only this had been amplified by a thousand. 

Cloud gagged and fought back the urge to puke as he fought against his bonds. The closer the monster in front of him got the more panicked and wild his movements became. 

A terrified whine left Cloud’s throat as the monster crawled into the fire light.

It was a woman or at least part of one. The upper half looked like a woman thought it was several times larger than any Cloud had ever seen. If he hadn’t known any better he’d have thought it was a summon.

The top half might have been a woman but the bottom half of her was nothing more than a mass of writhing tentacles. Dozens of long slimy looking tentacles dragged behind her and where they touched the ground the land scorched and rotted.

By the time she reached where Cloud was bound all of his senses had left him and only sounds akin to a frightened animal escaped his throat. Everything around him had grown fuzzy and distant the world warping in on itself the longer he took in the creature before him. Every breath was a struggle to not be sick. He’d never get the smell and taste out of his mouth and nose.

A soft cold hand touched Cloud’s cheek and if the creature could speak Cloud couldn’t hear it. 

There were several seconds of light contact between his cheek and the creature’s hand before the hand moved away and fingers dug into the wound on Cloud's abdomen. Cloud screamed as best he could as the world around him faded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will defiantly be continuing this one. It's already been like half plotted out in my head.
> 
> Also a shoutout to Pin and Poket_Frog over on the discord server for writing out the slurring for me. You two rule.


	10. They Look So Pretty When They Bleed (Trail of Blood)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of emotional whump for Zack here though it is implied that Cloud is injured.

Cloud was missing.

Cloud was missing and the only clue Zack had to where his friend had gone was a tacky trail of blood.

“Ok, Fair calm down. Cloud’s a big boy and he knows what he’s doing. If he moved it was for a reason.” Zack told himself as he tried not to panic over his missing friend.

He had no reason to panic. Cloud hadn’t been missing for long and it had only been a nasty fall that had separated him from the other member’s of his squad. Cloud was fully capable of defending himself both with a blade and a gun. He wasn’t bad with materia either when he could get them for missions.

So really Zack knew that he was overreacting. Sure, Cloud was bleeding but that didn’t mean it was a horrible wound. Sometimes you got hurt and couldn’t stay where you needed to and blood trails happened. 

A quick glance at the imprints left in the dirt revealed prints that were slightly long but fairly even apart. Cloud’s feet had been doing that dragging thing they did when he was tired and really wanted to go lay down and take a nap. 

So if Cloud was tired and hurt enough to leave a blood trail then he couldn’t have gotten too far ahead of him. All he had to do was follow his friend's trail. Then once he found him and poured a potion down Cloud’s throat he could smack him across the head and give him a lecture that would have made Angeal proud had the man still been alive.

So Zack set off at a slow run, feet a steady drum against the dirt as he followed his friend’s trail. He wasn’t going to panic. Not over something small like this.

Injuries happen sometimes. He told himself. Infact a mission where there wasn’t some sort of small injury was such a rarity that people got nervous when they happened. One squad had insisted that they were cursed after going for several without anyone getting hurt at all. It had gotten so ridiculous that one of the squad members had slammed his toe against a barrel just to set the others at ease.

So this was normal.

Zack blinked as Cloud’s tracks grew a little longer and the blood splatters grew bigger. 

That was a good sign. Cloud probably hadn’t made it too much further ahead before he’d needed to stop and rest a bit.

Zack sped up his pace just a bit. 

The air was starting to get humid in that way that promised a good storm or at least a good few inches of rain and that wasn’t something either of them wanted to be stuck out in. 

So Zack ran along his friend's trail looking down every few feet to make sure he was still following it. Minutes passed by in a blur and all the while the skies grew darker and darker. 

Eventually Zack slowed and glanced around. He should have caught up to Cloud by now. Cloud’s footprints were nothing more than draglines in the dirt. The other so worn out now that he apparently couldn’t even pick up his feet to walk properly.

Zack was just thankful that the blood trail hadn’t gotten any clearer. Maybe Cloud had had a potion after all and had finally decided to drink it.

“CLOUD!” Zack called into the trees. He ignored the sound of his own voice bouncing around the tree’s and instead tried to listen for Cloud’s voice answering him.

“WHERE YOU AT SPIKY?” Zack called again when his first shout didn’t receive an answer.

Silence. 

Complete and utter silence other than the sound of the wind.

“Fuck.” Zack muttered into his hands as he rubbed his face. “Can this get any worse?”

A sharp crack of thunder and an immediate downpour. 

Zack groaned because of course. He had asked the stupid question and nature had given him his answer.

Looking down to find the trail he’d been following fear ripped through his heart causing Zack to stumble forward a step. 

The rain had already begun to wash Cloud’s tracks and the blood trail away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very long but this was one of the ones I figured would be short.


	11. Psych 101 (Struggling)

_ “Puppet.” _

_ “Come sweet child. Join us.” _

_ “Join us.” _

_ “Join us.” _

_ “REUNION.” _

Blue eyes snapped open the pupils slit for just a moment before rounding out again. Cloud panted and dug his fingers into his hair tugging at the golden strands until the roots protested.

Zack thankfully was still asleep in his bed on the other side of their cell. That was good. They’d had a long day and Zack needed the rest. The other man had spent the past several nights dragging Cloud out of fever dreams and he needed the sleep. While Cloud knew that he was currently taking the brunt of Hojo’s attention that didn’t mean that they left Zack alone.

Zack had his own tests done while Cloud was being shot full of mako and whatever else Hojo deemed necessary that day. Tests that left him just as worn and tired as Cloud’s tests left him.

Cloud rubbed at his face as the loud shouts in his head faded into whispers. Voices. There were so many voices screaming in his ears all the time now. Usually he couldn’t tell them apart but there were always a couple that stood out even when he was awake.

Sephiroths was one and the other…

The other made him jittery like he needed to get up and run until he dropped. The other voice needed him and he needed to get to it.

She sounded so sad and lonely when she called for him and he wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to be happy more than he wanted anything else. 

_ “FInd your brothers and sisters and join me, sweet child. Don’t keep mother waiting.” _

Cloud nodded and climbed to his feet. Softly glowing eyes took in the room around him. The only way out was the door but the door wasn’t safe to touch. At least not for the amount of time he’d need to be able to pry it open.

Fingers flexing Cloud stumbled a step forward feet scraping against the cool concrete beneath his feet. Maybe if he put something between his hands and the door? Would the blanket from his bed be enough? Or the pillow? Just something to keep the electric current from affecting him long enough for him to open the door.

Zack coughed and rolled in his bed.

Cloud jerked to a stop, shook his head and stumbled several steps backwards as reality reasserted itself. Panting breaths tore from his throat as he buried his fingers in his hair and dropped to the floor burying his face in his knees.

“She’s not real.” Cloud whispered to himself. “She’s not mom. Mom’s dead. Sephiroth killed her.”

“She’s not mom.” Cloud whispered to himself over and over again as he began to rock back and forth. 

_ “Oh my dear sweet child. You know that’s not true.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one. I struggled (ha) with this just a bit. Then of course it hit me. Why not have Cloud fighting against Jenova's call.


	12. I Think I’ve Broken Something (Broken Bone)

“I think I’ve broken something.” Cloud muttered as he looked down at his arm and the bulge he could see under his skin (his face may have lost several shades at the sight). He’d been lucky really that it hadn’t been his leg or even his head. He could live with a broken arm even if he did kind of want to puke his intestines up.

“Shit,” Zack cursed as he moved to look at his friend’s arm. Gentle fingers ran over the already swelling area. “Fuck man I didn’t think I had that tight a grip.”

“Think I landed on it when I rolled.” Cloud bit out between clenched teeth. Even though his friend’s touch was as light as a feather it still hurt. Small bolts of agony ran up Cloud’s arm.

“Don’t try and make me feel better.” Zack muttered as he began digging through his pack. “I thought I was getting better about the breaking things thing.”

He had been so long as the things he wasn’t breaking were in his apartment or the offices of the ShinRa building.

“Missions are different, you know that.” Cloud said because it was the truth. And this was Zack’s first mission since he’d gotten his latest mako treatment.

“I know that but I’ve had the new Mako for a month. I should be better than this.” Strong fingers wrapped around an orb of healing matera and pulled it from where it’d been jostled to the bottom of his pack. 

“Beat yourself up later then.” Cloud hissed recognizing when his friend was going to keep fighting over something that there wasn’t really any need to fight over. “We have a mission to complete now.”

Zack grumbled under his breath as he popped the fire materia out of his bracer and slid the cure into its place. 

“Count of three?” Zack asked as he placed his hand over the break in Cloud’s arm.

“Don’t give me that shit.” Cloud growled. “ You never wait til three to do … OUCH!”

Cloud jerked backwards as the cure spell took affect and the bone in his arm snapped back into place. He turned slightly green for several seconds before the color slowly returned to his face.

“You suck.” Cloud said as he flexed his fingers for a few seconds before leaning down to get his rifle.

“I told you count of three. You're the one that didn’t count.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie this one turned kind of jovial. Apparently banter was needed in this one. Also I promise that the really short chapters shouldn't last. I'll be back to longer chapters I promise.


	13. Breathe In Breathe Out (Chemical Pneumonia)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a little bit of Angeal.

Angeal winced as the sound of Cloud’s harsh dry coughing reached his ears. Zack had dropped the younger cadet off earlier that afternoon (much to Cloud’s embarrassment) and then left to go on a short monster hunt. 

“Keep an eye on him for me will you Angeal?” Zack had asked.

He’d opened his mouth to tell his student to take his friend down to the medical ward but in the end Zack had given him that look and he’d caved. Just like he always did.

So here he was stirring a pot of stew while Cloud coughed himself horse in his guest bedroom. He could understand why Zack had wanted someone to keep an eye on the younger teen. The poor blonde looked like he’d been run over by whatever had led to his chest cold and his coughing seemed to be getting worse even with the medicine. 

Angeal winced at the sharp hacking noise Cloud made after a coughing fit that had probably left him short of breath. Reaching towards the dial’s on his oven he set the stew to a lower heat before making his way towards the room Cloud was resting in.

The door had been left open giving Angeal a good view of the shivering lump curled up under the blankets on the bed. An unusual sight considering Cloudprefered cold to warm. Angeal was careful to keep his usually heavy footsteps as quiet as possible as he entered the room and made his way towards the bed. Tired blue eyes peeked up at him from the covers.

“Are you feeling any better?” Angeal asked as he placed a hand against Cloud’s forehead. The teen was much warmer than he liked a fever having set in sometime in the last few hours.

Cloud opened his mouth to answer, coughed and shook his head. 

“Was it mucus you coughed up a minute ago?” 

Cloud nodded and pointed to the trash can that usually rested under the bedside table. Angeal knew that if he looked inside he’d probably find whatever Cloud had coughed up.

“Well thank you for spitting in the trash can. Last time Zack was here sick he turned the wrong way and puked on the bed.” Cloud gave a weak gasp in place of a laugh. Angeal chuckled at the memory.

“Are you up for some stew?” Angeal asked.

Cloud blinked and seemed to think on his question for a moment before shaking his head.

“Nauseous?”

Cloud nodded.

“I think I might have a tea that can help with that. Might make your throat feel better too.” Angeal said as he rubbed at his chin already going through the list of teas he knew were in his cabinet. If he didn’t have anything that could help them Genesis or Sephiroth might. He could ask them once he’d gone through his own stock.

“You get some more rest and I’ll be back in a bit with your tea.” Angeal said as he ran his fingers through sweet soaked hair. If nothing else a nice hot shower might help clear the younger boy’s sinuses as well but he wanted to get something into Cloud’s stomach before he did that. He knew from experience that if he got Cloud in the shower the teen wouldn’t be able to stay awake long enough to do anything else afterward.

Cloud sighed and closed his eyes as Angeal pulled away from him and started making his way back towards the kitchen. He needed to check the stew and his tea box.

Stew stirred and water on to boil angel dug through his bags of tea. He had two or three kinds that would do what he wanted but he wanted to see if he had another bag of peppermint tea before he went with ginger instead.

Peppermint tea had always seemed to soothe his throat more than any of the others his mother had given him when he was small. 

The soft shuffle of feet on his living room carpet drew Angeal’s attention away from his search and towards the entrance of his kitchen. Cloud was shuffling along at a snail's pace, eyes focused on his feet.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed.” Angeal said as he walked towards the teen.

Cloud blinked and turned his attention from his feet to Angeal. The blond cleared his throat in preparation of speaking and then coughed a single harsh cough that ended on a gag that had Cloud hunching over. For half a second Angeal though Cloud was going to throw up whatever was in his stomach.

He didn't, instead pink spittle dripped from his mouth and Angeal’s heart froze. It took only a second for him to spin and lunge at the oven turning the burners under both the tea and stew off completely. Then he spun and scooped a startled Cloud into his arms. He almost ran at his door not even bothering to put his boots on for the trip down to the medical floor.

Pink in spit was never a good sign. 

Brain racing Angeal’s eyes darted between the door to the elevator and the door to the stairs. He knew which way was faster for him.

“I’ve got you.” Angeal whispered into Cloud’s hair as the stairway door banged open. The blond groaned as they made their descent to the lower levels of the building. It was only then that some small part of Angeal’s brain remembered that the poor cadet suffered from motion sickness and the circles they were making on their way down probably weren’t helping. 

“I know.” Angeal muttered as he turned again “We’re almost there.”

Three more floor’s down had them at their destination. Angeal was more careful as he pushed this door open. He was where he needed to be so there wasn’t any need to give anyone in the waiting room a heart attack.

The nurse stationed at the check in counter pailed when she saw him and was on her feet immediately. Instead of turning towards Angeal however she stuck her head into the halfway.

“We have another one!” Her voice was calm as she said this and it didn’t help his nerves at all.

“Another one?” Angeal asked as he approached the desk.

The nurse gave him a sad smile. “He’s the sixth one in today. You thought it was a chest cold or the flu right?”

“Yes.” Angeal admitted not bothering to specify which they’d thought Cloud was suffering from.

“He’d be luckier if it was.” The nurse said as she placed a hand on Cloud’s forehead. Cloud shivered under her touch and Angeal’s grip might have tightened a bit.

“I need you to fill this out.” The nurse said as someone pushing a wheelchair arrived to take Cloud. “While you do that we’ll get him looked after and set up in a room.”

The paper Angeal was handed once his arm’s had been freed of their berdin was crisp and smelled like fresh ink.

“This isn’t the usual form.” Angeal said as he looked it over.

“No, these were printed after we got the fourth case. It’s easier than asking the same questions every time and lets us get the sick cadet’s set up in a room faster.”

That didn’t make Angeal feel any better.

Neither did the diagnosis he got from one of the doctors what seemed like hours later. 

Chemical Pneumonia.

Nine cadets so far had been checked in and they all had it from a routine mission a few days before. Angeal rubbed his face and let out a tired sigh. Nine cadets so far had gotten sick from the chemicals that they’d been sent to help clean and there was no telling how many more would be checked into the medical ward in the next day.

Reaching into his pocket Angeal pulled out his phs. He had a couple of calls to make but first. First he needed to check in with Zack. Then, then he was going to get to the bottom of this because something smelled rotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like fic where Cloud and Angeal interact and there aren't enough of them.


	14. Is Something Burning (Heat Exhaustion)

Honestly, fuck Midgar and the never ending sea of heat that was the desert outside the walls of the Mako Reactors. Fuck patrols that went three hours longer than they were supposed to and fuck uniforms that were too tight and didn’t breathe.

Cloud stumbled slightly as he made his way towards the small apartment he shared with Zack. He wanted nothing more than to get into the nice air conditioned space and strip down to his boxers while he chewed on ice. 

Then he was going to sleep off whatever form of heat exhaustion he was suffering from this time. But before he could do any of that he needed to get into their apartment and to do that he had to get his security card through the reader. 

By his fourth try Cloud was ready to chuck his security card into the nearest trash can. Thankfully the door swung open before Cloud had a chance to try again. Zack stood in the doorway, a frown pulling at his mouth as he took in his clearly exhausted boyfriend.

Instead of greeting his long time boyfriend Cloud simply smushed his face into Zack’s chest and groaned. A pair of strong arms immediately wrapped around his shoulders in a hug. Cloud stumbled slightly as he was pulled into the nice cold entryway of the home. The door shutting with a soft click behind them.

“We’ve got to get you off of desert patrols somehow.” Zack said as he helped Cloud pull off his uniform. “Everytime you come home from one you have heat exhaustion.”

“Tried, remember.” Cloud said as he plopped down on the cool leather of their loveseat. The cool material felt wonderful. “Heat exhaustion isn’t a good enough reason to suspend further desert patrols.”

“No,” Zack growled as he pulled off Cloud’s boots, “They just want you to have heat stroke instead.”

“Hmm.”

“No, don’t “hmm’ me. I’m half tempted to go to Sephiroth about this. Heidegger might not give a shit about his troops but Seph does.”

“Please don’t. I’m not a SOLDIER so Sephiroth can’t do anything other than stare Heidegger down and threaten him.” Cloud muttered as his eyes drifted shut. Maybe he could just take his nap now.

A soft touch to his face however forced Cloud to open his eyes. He could just make out Zack’s face through the fuzz.

“Drink this before you nap.” Zack said as he pressed the rim of a cup to Cloud’s lips. The water was cool and slightly sweet; probably one of the electrolyte drinks Zack swore would help him feel better faster. The glass hadn’t been full to the rim however so Cloud had finished in a few swallows. Cloud made a noise in his throat after the glass had been taken away.

“In a bit,” Zack promised. “The doctor said you needed to pace yourself so you wouldn’t get sick, remember.” 

“Yeah.” Cloud muttered as Zack helped him lay down flat. The entire process was enough of a ritual by now that he didn’t flinch when Zack began to run a cool wash cloth over his skin.

It felt nice. The water not only cooled his overheated skin but washed away dirt and sweat as well. It wasn’t a replacement for a real shower but it would do until he was feeling steadier on his feet.

“Love you.” Cloud muttered as he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that the next 6ish chapters shouldn't be sick fic.


	15. Into the Unknown (Possession)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I don't much care for puppet!cloud here have some puppet!cloud.

“ _ Please don’t. _ ” Cloud begged as he watched his arm swing the sword in his hand. Thankfully the blade missed the younger girl it had been aiming for. Yuffie shouted as the blade whizzed through the air over her head. And when she turned likely to tell him off for the close call he could see the words die in her throat.

Brown eyes widened as Yuffie shouted a warning to the others drawing their attention from the monsters they’d been fighting and onto Cloud himself.

He knew what they were seeing when they looked at him. Eye’s just as green and slit pupiled as Sephiroth’s were. Because for now they were Sephiroth’s.

“ _ Don’t _ ?” Sephiroth’s voice whispered in his head. “ _ Why ever not Cloud? We could have such fun your friends and I _ .”

“ _ Leave them alone _ .” Cloud hissed as he tried to force Sephiroth out of his head. He wasn’t going to do this again. He wasn’t going to let Sephiroth hurt the people he cared about just because the madman thought it was fun.

“ _ Oh, Cloud do you really think you're strong enough to stop me _ ?” Sephiroth purred. 

As if to prove his point Cloud watched as his blade flashed through the air and tore into Tifa’s side. She dropped with a pained scream and the others moved in around her to offer protection while Nanaki cast a healing spell.

Cloud pushed against Sephiroth’s hold with every ounce of will he had but for all he pushed Sephiroth pushed back even harder. The struggle between them seemed to last for hours as his friends fought against his body.

He might have done better if he ignored what was going on outside of his mind but every shout and near miss pulled at least a little bit of his attention back towards the outside world.

And with every inch he gave Sephiroth took. And with each inch Sephiroth took a little more of Cloud seemed to be worn away. Eventually the realisation that he wasn’t going to win set in but that was fine. 

He’d worked out a back up plan a long time ago. Reaching with everything he had left he pushed Sephiroth away enough that he could take back control of his body for a few desperate seconds.

His blade haleted midair as he yanked control from Sephiroth. 

“Vincent, do it.” Because he’d rather die by a friend’s hand then watch as they were all slain in front of him while he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also to clarify on the puppet!cloud thing. I don't like him in relationships. He smacks too close to non con for me. I'm fine with him in regular fics. Sorry some of these are so short.


	16. A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Hallucinations)

“Please go away.” Cloud begged as he pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them. 

It didn’t make the blank eyed people surrounding him leave if anything it seemed like they were sneaking closer. Soft whispers assaulted his ears. He couldn't make out what exactly they were saying but he thought perhaps they sounded sad.

They always sounded sad.

“Please go away.” Cloud asked of them as he pushed himself into a corner of the cell he shared with Zack.

“I can’t help you.” Cloud whispered as tears began to leak out of his shut eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.”

The people from his home town said not a word as they crept closer to him soft sad noises emerging from several mouths. They were kinder to him in death than they had ever been to him in life.

Cloud wished that Zack was back from whatever experiments Hojo was doing on him. They were easier to ignore if he wasn’t alone. Zack had a way of drowning the voices out. 

“ _ Oh _ .” A soft sigh just a bit louder than the others. It was loud enough for Cloud’s constantly strengthening senses to pick up.

Cloud moaned and curled up tighter. He wasn’t going to look. He knew what was waiting for him if he did. He knew who he was going to see and she was the last one he wanted to see. Even if he wanted nothing more than to look in her eyes and beg for her forgiveness.

“Cloud,” Her voice was a soft whisper. “Look at me baby.”

Cloud shook his head. “Please go away. You're not real.”

A soft touch against his cheek. “Oh but I am Cloud. I’ll always be real.”

Cloud jerked his eyes popping open at the unexpected voice. Long silver hair filled his vision and for a second all he could feel was the cold blade that had been driven through him.

“I killed you.” Cloud whispered as he tried to push himself further into the corner..

“Yes, you did. A weak little thing like you might have led to the death of my body but I’ll never leave you.” Sephiroth said as he shifted closer to Cloud. “We’re connected after all.”

Cloud whined low in his throat as he pushed past Sephiroth and made for the other side of the cell. He settled in the corner opposite of the one he’d been tucked into originally. 

“I killed you.” He muttered again. “I threw you in the mako pit.”

Sephiroth made no move to follow him, simply lingered in the other corner a small amused smile on his lips.

“I killed you.” Cloud repeated, his eyes losing focus. 

“I killed you.” Over and over Cloud repeated the same sentence again and again each repetition getting louder and louder until he was screaming.

Cloud didn’t know how long he sat in the corner of the room screaming at a man that wasn’t really there but eventually a sharp bang against the door startled him enough that he went quiet.

Cloud’s mouth snapped shut and for the first time in what might have been hours the man standing across from him and the other shadowy figures in the room faded away.

The sudden lack of noise and lack of presence didn’t cause him to uncurl from his ball however. If anything Cloud tried to make himself smaller in case they decided to come back again.

He stayed that way until the cell door clicked open and Zack was pushed back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this one could be expanded to a full fic of cloud going through the symptoms of mako addiction. Hmm. I'll have to think on it a bit more.


	17. I Did Not See That Coming (Wrongfully Accused)

He’d lost track of how long he’d been cuffed to one of the tables in one of the TURK’s interrogation rooms. He knew that it had to have been a few hours at least. One of the TURKs that had brought him in had busted his lip open and it had been long enough that the bleeding had stopped.

He wished he knew why he was there at least. He’d tried asking but neither of them had been willing to answer. One had just sneered at him and told him to “Shut the fuck up,” before they’d left him alone.

So Cloud did the only thing he could do. He sat and he waited. For what exactly he didn’t know but he hoped it wasn’t anything too horrible. The last thing he wanted was to be disappeared. 

Gods what would happen to his mother if he vanished? Would they even let her know or would she spend the rest of her days wondering where he’d disappeared to? Why he’d stopped writing to her? 

Gods he hoped they told her he died on a mission or something and was eaten by a monster. Not the most heroic way to go but it’d be better than her being told he’d been taken around the back and shot like a rabid dog.

Maybe they’d let him write a letter before they killed him. Zack would probably mail it for him. Then they could send it and wait a few weeks. He’d come up with the fatal mission himself if they’d let him.

Cloud jerked out of his thoughts as the door opened and Tsung stepped into the room. His attention wasn’t on Cloud however but the stack of papers he carried. Tsung took a seat across from Cloud without even acknowledging him. 

Cloud swallowed and shifted in his seat.

It took a moment before Tsung turned his attention from the papers and towards Cloud himself.

“Do you know why you're here?” Tsung asked his voice flat.

Cloud fought back the sudden urge to sigh and rubb at his face. The last thing he needed to do was open his lip back up.

“No.”

“You didn’t ask?”

Cloud snorted. “I did. One of the guys who brought me up here punched me in the face and told me to shut the fuck up when I did.”

“We don’t take attempts on the Vice President's life lightly.” Tsung said. It was both an answer to why Cloud was there and an accusation.

Cloud choked his eyes wide with surprise. “”I’m sorry.”

“Earlier this morning an assaination attempt was made on Rufus Shinra’s life. The man who tried used your security card for the higher floors to get there.”

Cloud sat mouth agape for several seconds before he managed to wrangle his thoughts into some sort of order.

“My wallet was stolen about a week ago. I filled out all the forms to get new cards a few days ago but I was able to report them missing before my last mission.” A mission that had kept him out of the building for four days and caused the delay in him getting his new cards. He’d had to call Zack to let him know that the SOLDIER would have to get him a new access pass for the higher floors.

“Really, there’s no notification that anything even remotely similar to a lost security card report was filed.” Tsung said as he flipped through the papers in front of him. “The last form you filled out according to the system was two months ago after your rifle was damaged during a monster hunt.”

“I filled out the forms just before we left. I had to give them to Sanders because if I hadn’t I’d have been late to depart. He sent me a message after he turned them in. He even sent me a picture of them on the requisitions desk.” Because it was a habit. Lost paperwork was the bane of everyone's existence and it went easier if you had proof that you’d filled it out and turned it in. 

Tsung blinked. “Do you have this picture or the name of the secretary working the desk?”

“The pictures on my phs,“ Cloud said as he gestured towards his pocket, “ Sanders didn’t get the secretary's name though.” That wasn’t usually necessary.

Tsung stood from his chair and walked around the table. 

“Which pocket?” he asked.

“The one by my knee.” Cloud answered as he shifted his leg out from underneath the table. Tsung was quick to pull Cloud’s phs from his pants pocket. He flipped it open as he walked back around the table.

Cloud watched in silence as Tsung went through the text’s on his phs. The other man said not a word as he did it only stopping so that he could write down a few notes on the back of one of the papers he’d been looking at when he came in. After what felt like an eternity Tsung closed his phs, placed it on the table and turned his attention back towards Cloud.

“Mr. Strife you may have just saved your own life. As well as saving us a great deal of time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so behind on these. I apologize. My life was eaten by pokemon for a bit.


	18. Broken Hearts (Grief)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a therapist or any sort of medical doctor so please don't take the one line thats from a fictional therapist seriously.

They’d told him to give it time. Let yourself grieve and things will get better.

Cloud was beginning to doubt that things were ever going to get better. It’d been almost two years since Zack had been gunned down and it still felt like it had just happened. He was still grieving so deeply that his entire body ached with it.

Maybe the reason why the few memories he had of Zack seemed so new was because he had so few memories. Too much empty space in his head even now. His brain was overcompensating for the lack of by making the ones he did have clearer. At least that's what the therapist Reeve had found for him had suggested.

In the end she hadn’t been able to help anymore than the others had though she’d tried her best. None of the exercises she had told him to do had helped. No amount of talking had either and there wasn’t a doctor alive that he’d trust to give him some sort of pill to help. Not that there was a dosage out there that could.

So Cloud could do nothing but let his constant grief run its course even if that meant he’d spend the rest of his life grieving a friend that he only had a few fuzzy green memories of.

Sometimes Cloud wasn’t even sure that they had really been friends. It was a private fear. One that he hadn’t told anyone. 

What if Zack hadn’t really been his friend? What if he’d only drug Cloud halfway across the world because Zack was a good person who wasn’t going to leave Cloud behind to suffer?

He’d asked Cloud if they were friends. That was a clearer memory than most. Zack sitting in the back of a truck asking him if they were friends.

“We’re friends right?”

Sometimes on his worse days the words echoed in his head for hours at a time. Those were the days he spent hunting down any monster he could find. The days he spent wandering circles around Edge or hunting down monsters in the ruins of Midgar.

The fighting helped sometimes. The swing of a sword. Skill honed sharp by the months they’d spent tracking down Sephiroth. Skills that had started out borrowed (stolen?, taught?) from Zack’s memories that had been naturally adapted to his own needs.

Some days fighting was the last thing he wanted to do. Some days all he could see was the swing of his sword and the only thing he could think of was the sound of gunfire as Zack fought to keep them both safe.

Those days he spent on the road making deliveries if he had them or just going if he didn’t. 

Those were bad days, days when nothing seemed to help make them better. Days when his grief for his friend threatened to eat him alive completely. Days he wished that Zack had just left him to die in Hojo’s lab in Nibelheim. 

Nothing good came of those days.

But today.

Today wasn't so bad.

Today was the type of day where the grief was quieter and the memories didn’t feel like they were going to swallow him whole.

Today he could sit in front of the buster sword and tell Zack about his week. Tell Zack about the good things in his life that were helping to overshadow the bad. He could tell Zack about Marlene and Denzel and how they demanded a story before bed even on the nights that Cloud wasn’t home.

Today was the kind of day where he could talk to Zack and for a little while the grief didn’t seem so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This probably takes place before Advent Children. Probably right before Cloud gets geostigma and leaves.


	19. Panic! At the Disco (Phobias)

Smoke thick and choking and filling his lungs more and more with each panicked breath. 

Cloud knew fire. Could use it in battle and was fine with sitting around one at night with his companions. Was used to looking for the flicker of flame at the end of Red’s tail in the dark.

But this.

This was different.

This was a town burning after a man who was a hero set it aflame and slaughtered the people who ran to him for protection.

This was his mother scorched but otherwise unharmed begging for her son’s life. A snear and cruel words as she was run through.

Sephiroth had spared him for that moment.

The world around Cloud crackled and burned as he tried and failed to get to his feet. Pain burned through him and it seemed like the more he fought to get up the harder it became. He couldn’t pinpoint where exactly the hurt was coming from but he knew that he did. 

It was that and the choking stuttering breaths that were keeping him down.

Cloud grunted as he tried to push himself up to his feet again. He succeeded and took a stumbling step forward before crashing down again. His body hitting the floor with a noise that couldn’t be heard over the crumbling building around him.

Cloud panted as he pushed himself up again. He needed to get out. The village was burning and the last thing he needed was to be stuck in one of the buildings. He needed to get up and get moving. Sephiroth wasn’t going to stop just because Cloud was stuck.

Cloud coughed and pulled himself forward with his arms. If he couldn’t walk out on his own two legs then he’d crawl out. 

The wood beneath his arms was hot and every pull forward was filling his arms with splinters. The pain was secondary. The choking breaths were ignored. The darkening in the corners of his eyes didn’t exist.

Nothing but the slow drag of his body over wood and around rubble. 

The only thing he couldn’t force himself to ignore were the bold flames that caught on his clothes. More than once Cloud had to stop and pat out the places where the material of his clothes caught.

It took him far too long to realize that he wasn’t going near as fast or as far as he seemed to think he was. It felt like he’d crawled miles but it had probably only been a dozen or so feet. Every pull forward was harder than the last.

Every breath harder to take as he choked on smoke.

Some far off foggy part of his brain hoped that the others were okay. Wondered where they were and was glad that none of them were in the building with him. He hoped that none of them were in the building with them. He didn’t have the breath necessary to shout and find out and he couldn’t hear much of anything over the crackling of flames. Over the ringing in his ears.

Cloud managed a few more inches before he had to stop and try to breathe. It was hard every breath fought him. Each inhale burned and each exhale was a harsh cough forcing more air out of his lungs than he’d drawn.

The panicked buzz in his brain was starting to die down and the frant urge to move and get out of the fire was fading with it.

Why shouldn’t he stay? 

Why not let the flames have him this time?

If he stayed he’d be able to see his mom again. Apologize to her for failing to keep her safe, for laying on the ground as Sephiroth ran her through and left her to bleed while Cloud struggled to find his feet and breath past the ribs Sephiroth had broken when the other man had thrown him across the center of town for interfering. 

“That’d be nice.” Cloud mouthed to himself as his eyes began to drift closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out I got this chapter and the last one switched around. 
> 
> Also I have no plans what so ever for most of these. It's more often than not just whatever bs my brain spits out. 
> 
> No Cloud doesn't die. At least he doesn't to me. He looses consciousness like a minute before one of the others finds him.


	20. Toto I Have A Feeling We’re Not In Kansas Anymore (Lost)

“I think we’re lost.” Zack said as he passed what looked like the exact same tree he’d walked by several times already. The trees around them were so thick that it was practically nighttime under the canopy.

It was great cover for hiding from ShinRa.

Not so great for finding them a warm place to hunker down for the night.

It was starting to get too cold for them to sleep out in the open even with the higher body heat SOLDIERs tended to have because of the mako. Freezing temperatures weren’t fun and the last thing Zack wanted was for Cloud to get sick.

In the state Cloud was in now the younger getting sick would probably kill him and if by some miracle it didn’t getting sick would set what little progress his friend had managed to make back. He’d heard talk when he was still in training that a lot of the druggies who died because of mako poisoning died not because of the addiction but because the mako depleted their immune systems and their bodies couldn’t fight off illnesses anymore. It wasn’t something Zack was willing to risk with Cloud.

“I know we’re going straight but I swear we’ve passed this area before.” Zack muttered as he looked at the ground beneath their feet. There were no footprints. No drag marks from where Cloud shuffled along with him the blonde’s feet not quite able to leave the ground properly yet.

Shaking his head Zack shifted his hold on Cloudd and began moving again. Bright eyes watched as the trees around them passed and changed. Several minutes of walking found Zack’s shoulders relaxing. So far they hadn’t ended back at that stupid tree.

“If this keeps up we’re going to have to bury ourselves.” Sleeping in a hole wasn’t exactly something Zack wanted to do but if they couldn’t find any other form of shelter in the next hour or so it’s what he was going to have to do.

He’d thought that the forest they were cutting through was smaller. It had certainly looked that way on the map but apparently either he’d been wrong or the map was outdated. It had looked old. The paper had been sun-faded but otherwise undamaged the glass covering keeping it safe from the weather. He’d thought that the almost straight line he’d memorized had been a hiking trail of some sort. 

If there had been a trail it was long overgrown now. Any of the markers that had likely been used to mark the trail were long gone. Hopefully the town or village or whatever it was that was supposed to be on the other side was still there.

Maybe they’d get lucky and find a cave. It wouldn’t even need to be a big cave. Just something that they could maybe build a fire in or fill with leaves. Zack didn’t care at this point. He just really didn’t want to have to bury them so they didn’t freeze after dark.

Several hundred feet further into the tree’s and Zack wanted to scream and maybe throw something.

Not Cloud. Maybe one of his boots or his sword. 

There sitting pretty in front of him was the exact same tree that he knew they’d passed before because he’d committed that stupid tree to memory after he’d passed it the last time. Jerking his head down Zack confirmed that just like last time there was no sign that the two of them had passed through. 

“Cloud I think I’m going nuts. We’ve passed this tree like four times already.” Zack said as he walked them over to said tree. He glared at it for a moment before picking up a foot and lashing out with a kick. A soft pain radiated up his leg at the impact but it was worth it to watch the tree shake and listen to the leaves rattle.

“Ok, so the tree’s real. So we’re either going around in circles or somehow this exact same tree has grown up in several places...all in a row.”

Zack eyed the tree for a few more seconds before he turned his head to observe the area around them. It was just as still and quiet as it had been before. No monsters or animals of any sort moved.

“I feel like we’re about to get eaten.” Zack admitted with a sigh.

A soft breeze rattled the trees and shook the grass. It felt like something was breathing down their necks. A sudden memory slapped Zack across the back of his head. A story that someone had told him about a kind of monster that could trap people in a kind of illusion. They’d let their prey wear themselves out and then attack them once they were too tired to fight back.

Another soft breeze brushed against them but this time Zack could hear an almost soft giggling noise hidden within it.

“Fuck!” Zack cursed as he settled Cloud down against the tree and pulled his sword from his back. If something was going to try and eat them then he wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay another chapter closer to being caught up! Just five more to go until I'm all caught up again. Lets see how many I can get written on the 25th.


	21. I Don’t Feel So Well (Chronic Pain)

“Easy.” Zack said his voice soft as his fingers ran gently up and down Cloud’s back. Gentle fingers traced the long scar that cut across pale skin. He could feel the muscles twitching under his fingers.

“Feels nice.” Cloud muttered his voice quiet. He sounded exhausted to Zack’s ears.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Zack asked as he reached out with his other hand and gently ran a finger over the dark skin under Cloud’s eye. 

Cloud shook his head. “Flair up.”

Zack winced in sympathy. Usually the pain from the damaged muscles in Cloud’s back wasn’t too bad but on occasion bad days happened. 

The first time Cloud hadn’t been able to get up due to pain Zack had hauled him down to the medical floor thinking something was wrong. Thankfully nothing had been. At least nothing that hadn’t been expected. At the end of the day Cloud had been given a prescription for painkillers and been told to rest as much as possible.

So Zack had carted him back up to their apartment and spent the day in mother chocobo mode. He’d driven Cloud crazy when the blonde hadn’t been asleep.

“Did you take your meds?” Zack asked.

Cloud blinked a slow tired blink. “Took one last night and one this morning.”

Zack hummed and looked at the clock that sat on the nightstand on Cloud’s side of the bed. It was almost 3 in the afternoon. 

“I think it’s probably safe for you to have another one.” Zack said as he stood from his spot on the bed and made his way into their bathroom. The little orange bottle was right where Cloud always left it. The lid popped off with ease and Zack filled one of the small cups sitting on the sink with water.

Dull blue eyes watched Zack walk back across the room. Cloud grunted in pain as he tried to push himself into a sitting position. He made it halfway before a muscle spasm had him tilting back towards the mattress.

“I got ya.” Zack said as he wrapped his arm around Cloud’s back and pulled him the rest of the way up. Cloud took the offered pill as Zack sat on the bed again causing the blonde to tilt slightly. 

“Water.” 

Cloud rolled his eyes but took the offered drink, his hands shaking slightly. The cup was just full enough that none of the liquid sloshed over the edge. It took only a moment for Cloud to finish off both the pill and the water.

“Have you eaten?” Zack asked as he took the cup from Cloud and sat it down on the table. 

“Haven’t been hungry.” That wasn’t surprising. Lack of appetite was one of the more common symptoms Cloud suffered from.

“If I made you some eggs and some toast do you think you could eat them?” 

Cloud thought it over for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I think I can get that down.”

Zack smiled as he eased Cloud back down onto the bed before climbing back to his feet.

“Breakfast in bed it is then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear it took me forever to figure out who's pov this was going to be in.


	22. Do These Tacos Taste Funny To You (Withdrawal)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing the withdrawal symptoms on hereon and alcohol symptoms. Also slight seizure warning.

“I’ve got you.” Zack muttered as he held Cloud’s shivering body close. “You’re going to be okay. I swear you will.”

He didn’t even know if Cloud could hear the panicked words spewing out of his mouth but he was willing to keep talking if it offered any sort of comfort to his friend. Anything to let Cloud know that he wasn’t going through this alone. Zack wouldn’t let him.

He hadn’t seen Cloud for days before the guards had thrown him back into their cell. The younger man had been shivering and muttering under his breath as he’d laid on the cold floor. Zack had only realized how not there his friend was after he’d pulled him up from the floor and settled him onto his cot.

It wasn’t unusual for one of them to spend a while lost in their heads and muttering after any amount of time spent with the scientists. It wasn’t unusual for whatever tests they ran to include some sort of drug to test their bodies against. 

Zack had spent an entire day hallucinating after one particularly nasty drug.

It had taken Cloud falling into a seizure for him to realize what was actually going on. For him to realize that this wasn’t Cloud suffering under the affects of a drug.

Withdrawal.

They were letting Cloud go into mako withdrawal. And the symptoms were hitting Cloud just as hard as Zack had feared they would. You couldn’t keep dumping someone in a mako bath for days or weeks at a time and them not barrel headlong into mako addiction. It had only been a matter of time really. 

Zack was honestly surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner. They hadn’t worked Cloud up to the mako baths like they did SOLDIERs. Instead they had dumped him straight into a 1st class level bath and left him to pickle while the wound in his chest healed.

“Please go away.” Cloud whined into Zack’s chest, his eyes clenched shut.

“No one’s there Cloudy, I promise. It’s just us and the dust bunnies.” Zack whispered as he tightened his grip around his friend. It wasn’t even a lie really. Even the guards seemed to be leaving them to themselves now only bringing them food twice a day instead of the usual three. 

Probably on Hojo’s orders. 

Bastard.

Not that Cloud was managing to keep much down at the moment. Even water tended to lead to the younger reaching violently. Zack didn’t know how Cloud wasn’t dehydrated because surely he wasn’t getting enough water with just the few sips he was managing to keep down.

Zack wasn’t going to look that gift chocobo in the beak however. He’d take whatever help he could get. He’d take whatever small miracles that were keeping Cloud alive.

Zack’s drifting attention jerked back towards Cloud when the smaller man gave a harsh shiver and stiffened. Zack had him rolled onto his side before the first full tremor had run its course. By the second he had as much of Cloud as was safe tucked against him. Legs tangled and hands placed firmly but gently against either side of his head. 

It wasn’t quite the proper position but it let him pin Cloud's legs down so he wouldn’t throw himself to the floor and hurt himself. Normally he’d have pulled Cloud to the floor for a seizure but it was different than a normal one. People with mako enhancements were more likely to beat themselves to death during a seizure than regular people were. Cloud had just about cracked his own head open against the floor when a particularly hard tremor had pulled him from Zack’s too loose grip.

Thankfully this one wasn’t as bad as some of the others had been.

Zack ran shaking fingers through Cloud’s sweaty hair as he shifted the younger into a more comfortable position. Cloud murmured something at the movement but was otherwise still body exhausted. 

“I’ve got you.” Zack said as he shifted a bit. “Get some rest Cloud.”

He didn’t have to wait long as Cloud’s eyes drifted shut. Zack knew he wasn’t asleep but sometimes just closing his eyes and letting his body rest a bit did him some good. Zack just hoped that the next round of symptoms would wait awhile before making an appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a slightly unrelated note. CAN YOU PEOPLE PLEASE MAKE UP YOUR MIDS ABOUT WHERE SEPHIROTH STABS CLOUD! I swear you can watch every scene and they all show him getting stabbed in a different place.


	23. What’s A Whumpee Gotta Do To Get Some Sleep Around Here? (Exhaustion)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So slight a/b/o au here. This is a take i've been fiddling with. It's not a run of the ill abo fic instead its a bit based off of Ultima by esama. Minus the bdsm. Its a great fic though go read it.
> 
> No sex in this though there is implied clack. Just a bit more family fluff I guess. I like fic where Cloud gets taken care of.
> 
> Mentions of heat but not the pregnancy kind. More a light illness that helps trigger pack bonding.

Hell weeks were just what their names suggested.

Hell.

A period of four to five days every three or so months where a select group of military were worked till they were ready to drop. There was a method to the madness. Hell week was actually a training exercise that all members of the ShinRa military went through. Even the SOLDIERs, though SOLDIERs hell week was an actual week and not the four days that the regular military went through.

The exercise was meant to mimic the occurrence of missions where soldiers were trapped in a situation with little to no rest. Because sometimes missions went like that and it was better for them to gain some experience in a safe situation than it was in a warzone or during a natural disaster.

That didn’t of course mean that Hell Weeks didn’t suck. Especially if you were an unenhanced trooper who’d gotten their turn after a week-long mission in the desert outside of the Golden Saucer.

Cloud had barely gotten a day to recover from the week long torture that had been the desert before being thrown into four more days of it in the slightly less hot desert around Midgar.

His squadmates had spent four days making sure he didn’t die of heatstroke and now all he wanted to do was get upstairs and sleep on the couch in Zack’s apartment with the air turned as low as it would go. He’d already sent a request for someone to turn the air on at Zack’s.

He really needed to check and see if any of the others had done it for him but he really didn’t want to dig his phone out of his pocket. It was bad enough he was going to have to dig out his keycard to get in.

Fuck he’d been lucky that he’d hit the right floor on the elevator with how uncooperative his fingers were being.

The soft chime of the elevator doors opening pulled Cloud wavering attention away from his wandering thoughts. He pushed himself forward with a grunt and stumbled out of the elevator.

Footsteps unsteady he trudged down the halfway towards Zacks apartment only to pause as another door opened.

“I thought that’d be you.” Angeal said as he stepped out of his own apartment. Cloud offered the older beta a tired grin. It wasn’t returned.

Angeal frowned as he took in Cloud’s clearly exhausted state. His clothes were dirty from his patrol and he was so tired Angeal doubted that he noticed he was swaying on his feet. 

Angeal sighed and stepped forward reaching out to place rough hands against one of Cloud’s cheeks and his forehead. Normal temperature which meant that Cloud wasn’t about to fall into another heat. That was good because Cloud falling into another heat while Zack and Sephiroth were gone was the last thing they needed right now.

They all knew that Cloud probably had at least one more heat to go through but it wouldn’t do them any good if it hit now. Heats that were meant to encourage pack bonding didn’t do much good when part of the pack was half a world away. The lack of a fever shot down Angeal’s first theory which meant… 

“Hell week?” Angeal asked as he let go of Cloud’s face. The young omega nodded as he began to lightly sway again.

Angeal winced in sympathy. He could remember that part of his training when he’d been younger. It hadn’t been fun at all and it wasn’t really that enjoyable now even if it was less harsh due to the mako running through his body.

“Come on then.” Angeal said as he wrapped a hand around the back of Cloud’s neck and began leading him towards his apartment. 

“I can go to Zack’s.” Cloud offered in a soft voice his eyes downcast even as he stepped into the cool air of Angeal’s apartment.

Angeal sighed before reaching out to nudge Cloud’s chin up so that the younger was looking him in the eyes.

“Do you remember what I said last time we had this conversation?” Angeal asked, his voice a little sad and a little tired.

Cloud swallowed his eyes darting around the room for a moment before settling back down on his feet. “I’m not a burdin and it isn’t fair that I help take care of you when you need it but won’t let you take care of me.”

Angeal smiled and gave Cloud hair a soft ruffle. “That’s right. Now let me take care of you. Last thing I need is Zack chewing me out for not doing my fair share.” 

“He didn’t.”

“No,” Angeal chuckled, “He tried his best to chew Gen out last time he started getting flighty again.” 

Cloud made a soft sound that might have been a laugh before shaking his head. 

“Now let’s get you cleaned up and settled. I have a nice fruit platter with our name on it and I’ll be damned if Gen get’s to eat all the apple slices this time. I know he loves them but they’re for everyone.”

Cloud huffed again as Angeal pushed him towards the small stool that sat by his front door. Usually it ended up buried under various coats but on occasion it was a place to sit for a tired body. 

Cloud groaned as he pulled his knee upwards so he could unlace his boot. He was vaguely aware of Angeal working the straps of his suspenders free. The soft weight of the hatchet he carried at his back was gone a moment later. There was a soft thump as it was sat on the small table next to the stool. Cloud knew that his little hatchet would probably end up cleaned and sharpened while he was here.

By the time Cloud had managed to unknot his single bootlace Angeal had already untied the other. Slipping his sore and aching feet out of his boots felt like nothing short of heaven. The only thing better would be whatever horizontal surface he managed to fall asleep on.

A strong hand wrapped around Cloud’s elbow as he made to stand and for good reason for just as he’d gained his feet Cloud swayed and probably would have fallen. 

“I have you.” Angeal muttered as he directed Cloud towards the small washroom that sat near his living room. It was a small room that was only ever really used in situations like this where one needed to change clothes but was really too dirty to walk through the apartment.

Angeal watched as Cloud’s eyes drifted shut for longer and longer periods of time. He knew the younger was exhausted but he also knew that he needed to be taken care of before he was allowed to rest. A wipedown with a wet washcloth and food and water would help him sleep much better than going to bed dirty, hungry and dehydrated would. And Angeal knew that that had been Cloud's intention upon returning to Zack’’s apartment.

The younger had asked for nothing other than for whomever was free to turn on the air. There had been no request for anything other than somewhere cold for him to rest. Zack wouldn’t have let Cloud mistreat himself like that and neither was Angeal.

Cloud wasn’t horrible about taking care of himself unless he was as tired as he was now. Then he’d deny himself everything he needed and give into his body’s demands without even trying to care for himself. The last time Cloud had crashed after a long patrol in the desert he’d slept so long he’d ended up slightly dehydrated. That scenario had been what had spurred on their first conversation about Cloud letting the other care for him when he needed it.

It had been Zack’s worried yelling that had drawn Angeal’s attention to the situation the first time. And since Zack was out on a mission and the others were busy doing work of their own that job fell upon Angeal shoulders. Not that he minded much.

“Let’s get you changed.” Angeal muttered as he began helping Cloud out of his clothes. The dirty garments were then tossed into the shower stall for later collecting. A pair of wet washcloths were already waiting on the rim of the sink. So while Cloud whipped his body down Angeal took great care to wash the layers of dirt from the younger's face. He was especially careful to wash the dirt away from around Cloud’s eyes. 

Thankfully Cloud’s hair though sweaty had been mostly spared due to his helmet. That didn’t stop Angeal from using the other side of his washcloth to wet it down before he combed through it with his fingers.

Cloud made a content noise as the older man scratched at his scalp.

“Come on. Let’s get you fed and watered and then you can go to sleep.” 

“M’kay.” Cloud mumbled as he climbed to his feet. He was even more unsteady now than he had been before and for half a second Angeal thought he was going to have to carry him. 

In the end however Cloud made it to the couch by himself though his head did a great deal of bobbing as Angel got them both something to drink and pulled a small fruit platter from his fridge. 

Cloud’s head jerked up as Angeal sat down beside him. The older man winced in symphony. It looked like the kind of head jerk that would leave neck muscles tingling painfully.

Angeal kept a close eye on the younger as he ate and drank. The last thing he needed was for Cloud to choke. Thankfully the food and juice seemed to help perk him up a bit. They ate in a comfortable silence and while Cloud drank more than he ate it was enough to settle that pressing need in his gut that was screaming that one of his packmates needed taken care of.

The small handful of fruit that Cloud had managed to eat, while not enough, would at least hold the younger over till he’d gotten a few hours rest. Cloud was leaning quite heavily into Angeal side by the time he’d had his fill. Soft puffs of air slipped past barely parted lips.

Angeal fought back the urge to chuckle as he watched Cloud’s eyes fight to stay open. It was a battle that the younger was rapidly losing. 

“Let’s get you to bed.” Angeal whispered as he lifted Cloud from the couch and carried him towards the guest room. The door was quiet as Angeal pushed it open and the room within was dark and cool. The bed was already turned down and waiting to be occupied. 

Cloud didn’t stir as Angeal settled him into bed and covered him with a thinner blanket. He knew Cloud slept best when the room was cold but that didn’t stop him from wanting to prevent it. A thinner blanket was a nice compromise to the part of his brain that was picky about temperatures.

Angeal smiled as Cloud shifted and made himself comfortable before turning and exiting the room. Closing the door softly behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do love the idea of exhausted Cloud. I don't know why but I need more of him.
> 
> Oh look i actually did another that's over a thousand words. I was beginning to think the rest of these would just be shorts. This is defiantly a planned verse at some point. I just need to work the kinks out and plot for it.
> 
> Also I managed 3 chapters on the 25. this one here was finished at like 11:58.


	24. You’re Not Making Any Sense (Forced Mutism)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic au.

He could feel it as the curse took hold. Ice cold magic slipped around his throat and pulled tight as a garrote. Any counter-curse he could have cast was stopped dead as the spell took hold.

Cloud clawed at his throat as the spell wrapped tighter and tighter, dark bruising blooming in an almost perfect circle on his pale skin. Cloud struggled to breathe each gasp pulling less and less air into his lungs.

Meanwhile the man standing over him sneered and offered him a rotted tooth grin. “ShinRa thought they could send an untrained pup after me.” He snorted. “We’ll see what they think of the corpse I leave behind.”

The funny thing was ShinRa hadn’t sent them at least not after the man above him. He and Zack had come to the area to clean out a nest of monsters that had grown large enough to threaten the entire ecosystem. The entire point of this mission had been to help build Cloud’s strength back up after a severe bout of illness caused by spell backlash. Running into the man had been an accident.

Cloud had been ready to warn him away from the area and ignore him before he’d caught the rotten smell of the man’s magic. He’d had barely half a second to lash out at the man with his blade before he’d been hit with a stunning spell and thrown backwards. And now this man’s magic was slithering through his system tying his vocal cords in knots and leaving his neck a ring of bruises.

It was overkill. 

A silence spell and a spell to kill mixed up into one. The man before him was making sure that Cloud couldn’t make any noise as he killed him. Not that the silence spell would have been necessary. His spell had overwhelmed Cloud’s still recovering magic so quickly that he hadn’t even had a chance to call out to Zack and let the older teen know he was in danger.

Maybe Zack would be lucky and the man wouldn’t find him like he’d found Cloud. 

“Not much magic in you.” The man muttered as he used his foot to knock Cloud’s weakly grasping fingers away from his throat. His entire arm thudded to the ground. “I doubt you’d add much to any of my spells though I suppose I might be able to make good use of some of you.”

Cloud could only watch as the man knelt down beside him. Reaching out he moved Cloud’s other hand away from his neck before touching the deeply bruised skin. “I’ll admit I didn’t expect this when I mixed those spells. I’d been hoping to kill you quietly. I didn’t expect them to do this.”

The man stood again and smeared. “I’m surprised you're still conscious. An after effect of the stunning spell perhaps. I’m almost tempted to stay and watch but I suppose that now that I know the effect I’ll be able to duplicate it on others.”

As the man walked away everything finally began to go dark.

\---

Zack ran as fast as his feet could carry him. The smell of rot assaulting his nose in a constant stream of wrong. He felt foolish for not realizing what the smell was earlier. Such a shortcoming was to be expected of Cloud who was still recovering (and whose senses had been dulled by illness) but he himself had had no reason to not realize that the soft rot smell he’d thought was from the monster’s they were hunting but from someone using darker magics.

The kind of magic that went against the very flow of the lifestream. The smell assaulting his senses now was new. A freshly cast spell.

They were close. Whomever was casting suck dark magic was close and Zack needed to put an end to them.

Zack stumbled as his feet went from traversing wet ground to skidding across the gravel of the old road that cut through the forest. On the plus side he could see the man who had cast the spell moving down the road his pace unhurried. On the down side he could just make out Cloud’s limp form laying in the ditch on the other side of the road.

Without thinking Zack pulled the blade from his back focused his magic and swung. He didn’t even have to watch to make sure his paralysis spell hit the man. He could feel it as his magic stuck the others and won the brief fight.

Instead he turned his attention towards Cloud’s still form practically falling to the ground as he hurried to the other’s side. Magic immediately burned in his fingertips as he reached down and touched Cloud’s throat. There were several seconds of resistance before the spells wrapped around fragile skin shattered under the force of his magic. 

Pure force was almost immediately replaced with the soothing energy of a healing spell. Cloud’s back arched with the force of his inhale, his body thudding to the ground once his lungs were full. Blue bloodshot eyes rolled wildly in their sockets for a few moments before Cloud blinked and his eyes focused. 

“Fuck Cloud.” Zack whispered as he pulled his friend up and tucked his face into the crook of his neck. There had been a moment where he’d thought he might have been too late. That the spells had already done their job even though they were still active.

Zack wrapped his arms around his friend in a fierce hug for a few seconds before leaning the other back so he could get a better look at his neck. Gentle fingers ran over the still dark bruises. His cure spell had opened Cloud’s throat enough for the other to breathe but Zack could still feel damage that was left. 

“Hhh...” Cloud wheezed when Zack’s finders touched a particularly tender spot.

Zack jerked his hand back. “Shit, sorry Spiky.”

Cloud made another raspy noise as he pulled away from the hand against his back. Trusting his friend to know when he could at least sit up on his own Zack pulled his hand away.

“What happened, Cloud? How the hell did that guy get the drop on you?” Zack asked.

There was a moment of silence before Cloud opened his mouth to speak only for another pained noise to escape his throat. The blond winced and lifted a hand as if to touch the bruised skin only to stop before his fingers made contact.

Zack watched as Cloud’s adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. Then he opened his mouth and tried to speak again. The sound that emerged from his friend's throat was just as painful sounding as the one before it had been.

“Fuck. I’m gonna kill him Cloud.” Zack growled as he realized what had happened. “I’ll take his fucking head back and the rest of him can rot.”

Cloud winched and shook his head before he made a gesture at his throat.

Zack signed his shoulders falling. Killing the man wasn’t currently an option. Sometimes with dark magic the death of the caster could make a spell stronger even after it was broken. So their best option was to take him back to base and deal with them after Genesis had taken a look at Cloud’s throat and examined the spell damage.

“Fine.” Zack grumbled as he helped Cloud to his feet. “We’ll get you checked out first. Then I’m going to lop his head off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry no chat time beating my horrible wifi in rain signal


	25. I Think I’ll Just Collapse Right Here, Thanks (Blurred Vision)

The world before him was a blur of color, everything more than a foot away from him a foggy mess that he couldn't make heads or tails of. Cloud blinked and rubbed at his eyes hoping to clear his vision at least a bit. The motion didn’t help however. 

Everything in front of him looked like the mission reports he had to fill out after a hell week drill. Cloud probably wouldn’t have recognized his own mother if she’d walked in front of him.

All Cloud could do at that moment was trust that his feet were carrying him in the right direction because if they weren’t he wouldn’t know it until his vision cleared. If it cleared up at all.

God he hoped it cleared up. Potions and cure materia could do a lot but after a certain point they become less effective and Cloud didn’t want this to be how his eyesight was for the rest of his life. There was already enough wrong with him he didn’t need bad eyesight to go with it. 

He’d really never make it into SOLDIER if he couldn’t see anything. Of course if his vision stayed this bad he wouldn’t be able to stay in the infantry either. He probably wouldn’t be able to find work anywhere in Midgar.

No one was going to take someone whose vision was so blurry he was practically blind on as a worker. Glasses were an option but they weren’t something he could afford with the sad paycheck he got every month. He usually only had just enough left to send some gil home to his mother.

Cloud groaned at the thought. There was no way he’d be able to go home if this was permanent. No one in town would hire him and he knew that his mother wouldn’t be able to afford to take care of him. It had been one of the reasons he’d left for Midgar. He knew that they’d been struggling more and more the older he got. New clothes and good food especially meat could be expensive and it had been getting to the point where homemade clothes and foraged food just wasn’t enough anymore.

They’d just barely had enough to last the winter before and with every passing year there was less and less for them to can and store. So he’d set out hoping to earn whatever he could so he could send money back home and help take care of his ma.

Well he’d set out to become a SOLDIER too but that dream was currently dying a slow painful death.

Cloud reached up to rubb at his eyes again only for the action to distract him enough that he failed to realize he was dangerously close to the edge of the hill he’d been walking along. The sudden lack of flat land beneath his foot was enough to cause him to topple and roll.

Cloud yelped as he rolled down the hill. It seemed like he hit every rock on the way down as well so by the time he’d hit the bottom and stopped he was well and truly battered.

Cloud lay still on the rocky ground for several seconds before he threw his arm over his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t certain he had the energy left to try and climb back up the hill. Some small part of him wondered if he’d be counted MIA if he stayed where he was.

He might have laid there all day had a voice from above him not called down to where he was laying.

“Hey you need some help?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small chapter. So apparently our internet decided to behave long enough for me to get this chapter posted. Yay. I wonder if it can hold out for one more.


	26. If You Thought The Head Trauma Was Bad (Migraine)

Cloud heaved stomach rolling with nausea. Pale fingers gripped the side of the toilet bowl like the cool porcelain was their very last life line. Cloud wasn’t even sure why he was bothering. He hadn’t done anything more than dry heave for the past ten minutes. Everything that had been left in his stomach when the nausea had first hit was long gone now.

So really he could let go of the toilet anytime he wanted and maybe lay on the bathroom floor for a while. The tile was cool and he knew that it’d feel wonderful against his aching head. All he had to do was let go of the toilet and let gravity do its job. Sure hitting the floor might hurt but it’d be worth it.

He could lay on the floor and doze for a bit and then after he had rested he could dig the aspirin out of the medicine cabinet and take the six pills that would be necessary now that his migraine was in full swing.

Forcing his fingers to part with their death grip on the toilet Cloud pushed himself to his feet and squinted at the medicine cabinet. A sharp stab in his temple got him moving to actually pull the mirror forwards to reveal the shelves hidden behind it. And there amongst the toothpaste and deodorant sat his little bottle of painkillers. 

An apparently empty bottle he discovered seconds later. Cloud let the plastic container slip from his fingers and bounce into the sink. 

As if to mock his apparent forgetfulness his head gave a sudden sharp throb the pain building again. Cloud buried his hand into his hair at the feeling and tugged at the pale strands. He knew he shouldn’t, that he was just going to pull hair out but this had been a habit his entire life. One he could never seem to break.

Cloud groaned quietly to himself as he turned and left the bathroom. He knew he should get a wet washcloth or even the rice heating pad but all he wanted was the cool darkness of his and Zack’s bedroom. Plus he felt like if he bent over for anything he was going to end up on the floor. 

And honestly if he ended up on the floor he probably wasn’t going to be able to get up.

“Go lay down and take a nap.” Cloud mumbled to himself as he trudged towards the bedroom. “You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

If only that was for certain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a bit of hurt no comfort. Also my WiFi was being annoying again so if this double posts I apologize.


	27. 27 and 28 Accidents in Extreme Weather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 27\. Ok Who Had Natural Disasters On Their 2020 Bingo Card? (Extreme Weather)  
> 28\. Such Wow. Many Normal. Very oops. (Accidents)
> 
> Prompt 27 and 28 ended up being mushed together so here we are.

It had in all honesty been an accident. Not quite a freak one but still an accident. A miss swing with the buster sword and a river that hadn’t been frozen quiet as solid as he’d thought. Solid enough to hold their weight but not solid enough to take the blow he’d struck down the monster in question with. It didn’t help that he hadn’t been the one to pay the price.

Zack panted as he ran down the ice sharp eyes searching for the shadow of his friend under the frozen water. It was harder than he’d thought it’d be. The last shadow hadn’t been his friend at all just some stupidly big fish.

Fuck. 

Why did all the river’s near the Icecicle Inn area have to be so stupid? Why couldn’t they be like every other river? Why the fuck couldn’t he have been the one pushed under?

He’d have been able to break his way back out but Cloud, Cloud didn’t have that kind of strength. The butt of his rifle wouldn’t be enough even if the kid could fight against the current long enough to try.

Another dark shadow caught Zack’s eye and without thinking Zack moved ahead of it and slammed his sword into the ice. He almost hit the floating blocks with a fire matera but stopped short. The last time he’d done that the steam had been thick enough to cause even his eyesight trouble.

He just had to hope that if the shadow had been Cloud that he’d be able to make it to the cracks. All Zack needed was a second to snag his friend and pull. 

Glowing eyes darted back and forth over the water.

Waiting for just the barest glimpse of his friend. Praying that he’d been right about the shadow and that Cloud hadn’t floated by him yet.

Then he saw it the barest flicker of brown breaching the surface of the water. Without thinking Zack lunged forward and plunged both arms into the water. He ignored the stabbing cold and closed his fingers around the first thing they came into contact with.

Then he pulled with every ounce of strength he had flinging both himself and the soaked form of his friend several feet backwards. Cloud slipped from his fingers as they went hitting the ice before Zack.

Harsh coughs tore from the younger man’s throat as he fought to catch his breath. Zack blinked laying where he’d landed for a moment before rolling over and climbing to his feet. Cloud hadn’t landed too far away from him. A few long strides had Zack kneeling at the blonde’s side.

“Up you get.” Zack muttered as he pulled Cloud up so that he was leaning against Zack’s chest, head tilted back to help open his airways and make it easier to breathe. Cloud’s coughing eased a bit at the new position but didn’t stop for several moments.

Thankfully there wasn’t a wet quality to Cloud’s coughs so hopefully that meant he hadn’t swallowed too much water.

That was about the only small mercy in their current situation. 

Both of them were wet (soaked in Cloud’s case) and if they didn’t get warm and dry soon hypothermia and frostbite were an almost certainty. Even a SOLDIER could lose fingers and toes.

“Gotta get out of the cold Cloud.” Zack said as he pulled his friend to his feet. Cloud mumbled something that Zack couldn’t quite make out. “Want to try that again Spikey?”

Cloud gave another soft cough before trying again. “Dark soon. Need to find shelter.”

Right because it was winter and the days were even shorter in the north than they were in Midgar. And they were far enough away from their base that it’d be well passed dark by the time they got back. And while it was cold now it’d be ever worse after the sun had set.

“Right,” Zack said with a nod. “Let’s go find a nice cave to hunker down in for the night. We’ll get you out of those wet clothes and have a snuggle.”

Cloud huffed a noise that was at times equal to full on laughter. Zack offered his wet friend a grin before they began moving towards the forest that ran along one side of the river. Surely they’d be able to find some sort of shelter in there. If not a cave then maybe they’d be able to build one. 

Cloud was an expert in cold weather survival though he was more suited to mountainous areas. There wasn’t enough time to build an igloo but Zack thought that maybe he’d be able to use his fire materia to help melt into the ice if he needed to. He didn’t have the mana needed for a big area but if they could find a small ice cave then he could make it at least a bit bigger.

An ice cave would be more likely on the cliff sides though and Zack doubted that they’d need to go that far. The forest was their best bet besides they’d need the wood for a fire. Zack had learned how to heat stones for warmth but he hoped he didn't have to. He was less likely to wake up to a heated stone going cool. 

The silence from a dying fire would catch his attention faster.

“Ok you look low and I’ll look high.” Zack said as they entered the tree’s. Cloud shivered against him and nodded his head, eyes downcast. Probably watching his feet as much as he was watching for any low down cave enerences. They both knew they were there somewhere. 

What they really had to worry about in regards to their cave hunting wasn’t if they would find one but if it would be occupied when they did. Zack hoped not. The last thing he wanted to do was drive some poor animal out of their dens just because he been stupid enough to drop his friend in a river.

It took a lot less time for them to find one than Zack thought. It seemed like no time at all had passed before Cloud was nudging him and telling him to look. The cave was small and low to the ground and also buried under an overhang. Zack honestly had no idea how Cloud had seen it.

It was low and small and they’d have to be careful about building a fire otherwise they’d smoke themselves out but it would do. 

Once he’d pulled the both of them into the smell area Zack was pleased to note that it didn’t smell like anything had been living in the cave at least not recently.

“Stay here.” Zack ordered as he sat his bag down besides the still shivering Cloud. “I’ll go grab some wood and then we’ll get this place all nice and toasty.”

Cloud gave him a shaky thumbs up his teeth chattering as the blonde began to dig through Zack’s pack. Zack left him to it. Cloud knew what they’d need as well as Zack did. He meanwhile was going to pick up every twig and branch he could get his hands on and debate on if he could use his buster sword to block part of the entrance. He could pop the materia out of their slots for a bit of extra airflow. 

It’d be worth a try especially if it helped the cave warm up faster. 

By the time Zack was finished picking up wood he felt like he’d probably cleared out every stick on the ground in a hundred foot radius. He’d probably gathered enough wood to fill up half of their little cave but he wasn’t bothered by it. He’d rather have more wood than needed and not risk them running out.

By the time Zack pushed the rest of the wood into their cave and then crawled in after it Cloud already had a small pit dug with logs and sticks waiting. All that was needed was the flame which Zack was happy to supply.

Once they were certain that the fire wasn’t going to go out if they stopped looking at it for more than a few seconds Zack turned his attention to Cloud.

“Time to get nekkid in the cave?” Zack asked teasingly. Cloud snorted and rolled his eyes before sticking his foot out.

“We’re not having sex in this cave Zack Fair and if you try I’ll tell Aerith.” Zack snorted as he worked the frozen laces of Cloud’s boots loose. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it beautiful. Not till after we get you warmed up at least.” Cloud’s cold wet shirt hit Zack with a smack. The older man simply laughed and tossed the shirt so it was closer to the fire. Once Zack had both of Cloud’s boots and socks off he reached up to unclasp the others belt. Cloud lifted his hips as Zack tugged his pants down and off.

Once Cloud was stripped down and wrapped in one of their emergency blankets Zack began pulling his own clothes off. It wasn’t a much more annoying process than he would have liked. It didn’t help that Zack couldn’t stand up straight in their little cave. Even standing on his knees came with the threat of him smacking his head against the ceiling. 

“Open up.” Zack said as he tossed the last of his clothes into their pile. They’d probably have to shake the dirt out before they got dressed again but there were worse things in life.

Rolling his eyes Cloud let go of one side of the blanket so Zack could slip in behind him. A shiver crawled up Zack’s spine when he came into contact with Cloud’s still cool skin. Leaning down Zack pressed a kiss into the back of Cloud’s neck.

“New let’s get you all warmed up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> three prompts left. We're in the home stretch.


	28. 29 & 30 (Emergency Room) & (Internal Organ Injury)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 29\. I Think I Need A Doctor (Emergency Room)  
> 30\. Now Where Did That Come From? (Internal Organ Injury)

“No more trying to fly little bird.” Genesis said as he helped Cloud climb to his feet. It had been a nasty fall but one that had apparently done little damage.

“Gonna feel that in the morning.” Cloud said as he rubbed at his side.

“Anything broken?” Genesis asked as he watched Cloud slowly twist. He hadn’t heard anything break when the trooper had landed but it never hurt to check and see.

“Bruised. I think.” Cloud admitted as he placed a gentle hand on his side. “But no nothing feels broken just sore.”

Genesis nodded but paused to cast a cure spell anyways. They still had a long night of monster slaying ahead of them and while a low level cure wasn’t a fix all it would make it easier for Cloud to keep his feet.

“The wandering soul knows no rest.” Genesis muttered as he pulled Rapier from its sheath at his side. Cloud gave a soft snort from beside him. “Back into the fray we go and dearest do try not to fall off anymore crosswalks.”

“I make no promises.” Cloud said as he cocked his rifle. He had no control over where he landed when he got thrown around by wererats the size of guard hounds. 

WIth that the two were back off down the tunnel tearing through any of the monsters that dared to get in their way. They were one of almost 30 teams that had been made to clear out a monster infestation the size of Bahamut. 

“Hedgehog pie.” Cloud called out as one of the monsters scurried around a corner ahead of them. 

“I see it and there's likely more ahead.” That’s how their day had been going so far. Find one monster, turn a corner and be ambushed by the rest of the nest. 

“How have we missed all of these?” Cloud asked as he fired his rifle into a small swarm of the monsters to scatter them. Thunder cracked down and struck the fleeing monsters. Cloud winced at the monster's screams of pain.

“Someone in missions has been slacking and after we’re done I’m going to find out who and throttle them.” Genesis growled as he cut through one brave hedgehog pie that dared to make a lunge at his face.

“Let me know when you find them.” Cloud panted. “I think there’ll be a line.”

Genesis snorted. “There won’t be anything left for anyone else once I’m through with them you can be sure of that.”

“Maybe.” Cloud said as he leaned against a nearby wall. It felt like they’d been going at it for days. An almost constant fight against an endless sea of enemies. He’d run a patrol with a maintenance crew a few weeks before and there hadn’t been anywhere near the number of monsters there were now. It was like every monster in the slums had made their way into the tunnel to hide.

There was a minute's worth of silence between the two of them as they rested. Neither said anything simply taking a moment to breathe. Cloud rubbed at his stomach the bruise from his earlier fall twinging in pain. There was nothing they could do about it now however. He was long out of potions and Genesis needed all the mana he had for magic.

A sharp screech caused them both to jerk and turn so that they were looking further down the tunnel.

“If that’s what I think it is and there’s more than one please just go ahead and kill me.” Cloud requested.

“If I killed you I’d have to put up with Angeal’s mutt and that’s a fate worse than death some days.”

Cloud chuckled because he knew the type of days Genesis was talking about. They were the day’s where all he wanted was for his friend to give him five minutes of peace and quiet so he could get ready for the next round of whatever Zack had planned. Days like that with Zack were days that left him mentally exhausted.

Not that he’d trade them for anything.

“Come now the quicker we get this nest dispatched the sooner we can leave and bathe.” Genesis said as he ran a hand through his hair and cringed at the gunk that pulled away from the auburn strands. 

“I feel like I’ll need a bleach bath to get clean.” Cloud muttered as Genesis chuckled.

Hours later after putting down more monsters than Cloud had ever seen in all of his life. After traversing the Corkscrew Tunnel at least three times they were given the all clear. Dozens upon dozens of SOLDIERs and Infantry gathered around the Sector 0 station waiting for permission to go to the medic’s waiting to check them all over.

Someone, possibly the head of Urban Development who was apparently thoughtful like that, had managed to get food and water down to the exhausted numbers. The food wasn’t anything more than a simple sack lunch really but for most of them it couldn’t have been any better had it been the finest gourmet food and the most vintage of wines.

Some kind soul had even managed to make sure that Genesis had received one of his beloved Banora Whites. So for the moment the Red Commander was quite content to sit on the crate he was using as a chair and eat his fruit. On occasion he nudged the nodding trooper that sat on the ground beside him. 

“ ‘m awake.” Cloud muttered as Genesis’s boot nudged his elbow again.

“If you’re not going to finish eating then at least finish your water.”

Cloud gave a slow tired blink as he looked down at the bottle sitting by his knee. It was at least three fourths empty and just thinking about drinking the rest of it made him want to puke. It didn’t help that the wound from his fall was killing him. All he really wanted to do was go see a medic, geet an ice pack and then go sleep in his bunk for a week.

Another gentle nudge at his side. Cloud knew that if he looked up at Genesis the man would be smirking at him. So with a sigh Cloud uncrewed the cap from his bottle and took another sip. It was barely enough to cover his tongue.

“That doesn’t count.” Genesis said as he hopped off of his crate. Reaching down he offered Cloud his hand so he could pull the younger to his feet. Cloud took it after a few tired blinks winching as it pulled on the bruise under his shirt. 

Some small part of him wished he’d been able to heal it completely but they hadn’t known how long they were going to be fighting monsters and not even Genesis could keep using magic forever no matter how many ethers he managed to carry on his person.

“Let’s get you to a medic.” Genesis said as he pulled Cloud to his feet. He watched the young man sway for a moment and as he reached out a steadying hand the smell hit him.

Blood.

Glowing blue eyes widened a fraction as the smell registered in his brain. 

“Gen..” Cloud muttered as he paled and his eyes rolled. 

Genesis lunged arms wrapping around the slight body. It took only a moment for Genesis to have Cloud in a bridal carry. He practically ran towards the waiting medical tents bursting into the first one so suddenly that the nurse inside dropped the rolls of bandages she’d been setting out.

“He needs to go back to headquarters immediately.” Genesis said voice calm even if he wasn’t. 

“Where’s he injured and how severely?” the nurse asked her training kicking in. She was already reaching for the radio that would connect her to emergency transport.

“Right side of the body. He’s bleeding internally. For how long I don’t know but I can smell it now.” 

“Get his shirt off.” The nurse ordered as she began to relay information.

Genesis’s hands were quick and careful as he began pulling off the bits and pieces of Cloud’s uniform. Anything they could do here would be one less thing that the medics would have to do when they arrived. Genesis was only vaguely aware of the nurses presence at his side. The woman doing her job with a kind of confidence and routine that spoke of years of practice.

“Scissors.” She said just as she pushed a pair into his hands. Genesis merely nodded as he began to cut away at Cloud’s shirt. What was revealed when the cloth was pulled away was enough to make even his stomach turn.

The purplish-black bruise ran almost the entire length of Cloud’s side. It was a wonder that the younger man had been able to move at all. Genesis shuddered to think about how much worse it would have been had it not been for the weak healing spell he’d cast earlier.

Worse. It’d have been much worse and it’d have gotten that way much sooner.

Genesis hated to admit it but some part of him blanked out after that. His body going through the motions as he helped the nurse and then medical transport get Cloud settled on a stretcher and loaded into a vehicle.

It was only when the doors were slammed in his face that he snapped out of his daze.

“There are no dreams, no honor remains, The arrow has left the bow of the goddess.” Genesis buried his face in his hands for a few moments before taking a deep breath. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to do this and it wouldn’t be the last. 

What he needed to do now was get back to his apartment and get clean that way when Cloud was out of surgery he’d be able to sit with him. Then when he woke up he’d be able to apologize for assuming that Cloud’s fall hadn’t done any damage other than bruising. 

\-----

“There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess. Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds” Genesis recited as he sat next to Cloud’s bed. The surgery to fix the tear in the younger man’s liver had gone well and now all Genesis could do was wait for the drugs to wear off so Cloud would wake.

Genesis’s fingers twitched as he fought back the urge to reach out and take Cloud’s hand. Instead he fiddled with the pages of his book the texture soothing under his fingers. He hated waiting. 

Sitting still wasn’t an action often preferred by any SOLDIER and sitting quietly was even less so in Genesis’s case. He’d much rather be pacing back and forth lecturing about materia or telling embarrassing stories about Angeal and Sephiroth from their earlier days. But the clean white room he was sitting in wasn’t the place for it and Cloud needed rest to heal.

He’d already done all he could. Angeal and Sephiroth had already been briefed and Angeal would let his student know about his friend's injury. Goddess Zackery was going to be insufferable when he got back from his mission to Junon. Honestly Genesis half expected the 2nd Class to show up at any given moment shouting about his friend.

Well, maybe not shouting. Angeal’s student did know when to be quiet and the recovery ward was one of the few places that the younger man didn’t often shout in. He was at least considerate of the other people recovering.

Genesis’s phs vibrated in his pocket. The short length of the action alerting him to the fact that it was a text message.

**_‘Any change?’_ **

_ ‘No, but the sedative should be wearing off soon. After that it just depends on how long he sleeps.’ _

**_‘Let us know when he wakes up. If he does before we return.’_ **

Us.

That meant that Angeal had made a side trip to pick up his puppy on the way back from his own mission. That was probably for the best. Zack tended to take any sort of news coming from Angeal better than he did from anyone else.

Genesis snapped his phone closed with a sigh. Blue eyes once again darting over to Cloud’s still form just in case anything had changed in the last thirty seconds. The blonde was unsurprisingly still sleeping.

“Sleep while you can, little bird. I doubt that you’ll be getting much rest once the puppy arrives and starts his yelping.” Finally giving in to the urge to reach out and touch Genesis ran a careful hand through Cloud mop of blonde hair. The boy gave a soft sigh but otherwise didn’t wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So these two ended up going together too. Not a whole lot of ER but I suppose it still fits. One fic left to go. See you guys tomorrow.
> 
> Also Genesis wtf dude? I write a chapter with you in it and it's like my longest chapter.


	29. Today’s Special: Torture (Experiment)

Cold around his wrists and ankles. A steel band around his head and something rubbery jammed between his teeth. He could hear Hojo speaking but he couldn’t make out the man’s words. 

Words that in all likeness weren’t even directed at Cloud himself. Hojo for all the talking he did while working never really spoke to Cloud directly. Every comment the scientist made was about Cloud but not to Cloud himself.

“Set a timer and be ready to start.” Hojo said as he looked over his glasses at the paper in his hands. “We’ll start with his fingers and work our way up to the thicker bones. Have the notes on Sephiroth’s healing speed ready for comparison.”

Cloud cringed as best as he was able. This was a new test for him at least. They’d broken a few of Zack’s bones before. He’d come back to their cell tired and sore and refused to say anything after telling Cloud what it was they’d been doing.

Some small part of Cloud had been waiting for this because eventually the things they did to Zack ended up being done to him as well.

“We’ll start with his left 5th digit and work our way around.”

Cloud’s head twisted as one of the assistants flattened his hand and lifted a hammer. It was clear that he was waiting for an order to begin.

“In 3...2...1…”

The hammer fell and the pain started.

\------

Today they were kind enough to let Cloud sit. This was the only kindness because Cloud knew that there was nothing kind in the cups that lined the table near him. He could smell the chemicals and he knew what was going to happen. 

He knew and everything in him screamed at him to keep his mouth shut.

“We’re testing the effects chemicals have on his organs today.” Hojo said as he walked into the room. The man eyed him for a few seconds before turning his attention elsewhere. “Subject C has shown great improvements in healing since the last J-Cell injection.”

Cloud shuttered at the memory of his last injection. An I.V. bag full of something that had been so cold that for a while Cloud had thought he’d freeze to death.

In the end he hadn’t and now here he was a few weeks later strapped to a chair with only his head free. Every word out of Hojo’s mouth made him clench his teeth harder until all he could hear was the bones grinding together.

Hojo snorted as he approached as if he could tell what Cloud was doing. “None of that,” he ordered. “Behave and I might just give you a treat after the tests are done.”

Cloud only clenched his jaw tighter. 

Hojo merely sighed as if Cloud’s refusal to cooperate was akin to a child throwing a tantrum. “You can open your mouth and drink these willingly or we can do this the hard way.”

A sharp crackle filled the air as one of the guards turned on his mag-rod. Cloud clenched his teeth harder still. He was fairly certain he heard one of his teeth crack.

“The hard way then.” Hojo said as pain ripped up Cloud’s side and his teeth clenched for a different reason.

Once the convulsions had stopped Cloud felt a hand tilt his head back. The plastic of the cup was cool against his lips as the liquid was poured into his mouth. Cloud’s body jerked at the sudden burning sensation, his throat muscles tensing as he prepared to spit.

Only he couldn’t. A strong hand had wrapped around his mouth holding his jaw shut. Cloud thrashed trying to jerk his head away to avail. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t dislodge the hand that was over his mouth or the arm that wrapped around his head in an attempt to keep him still.

He could feel his insides burning the entire time.

“This would be much easier if you’d just swallow.”

Cloud did his best to glare at the man before him. There was silence as the two looked at each other before Hojo rolled his eyes and turned to look at one of the other guards.

“Right, we’ll do this the hard way then. Go and fetch Subject Z.”

Cloud felt his heart stop. 

“Tell him that if he doesn’t cooperate he can watch us cut apart his friend.”

It went against every instinct screaming in his head but in the end Cloud swallowed his insides burning. 

“Good boy.” Hojo said a smirk crawling across his face. 

Time moved funny after that. There were no minutes or hours only opening his mouth when he was told, swallowing and burning. Sometimes he thought a hand brushed through his hair. Fingers scratching against his scalp for a few seconds as if to sooth the pain he felt inside away.

\-----

Cloud thrashed his body jerking against the floor as the noise in his ears rose in pitch. There was no Zack to hold him steady and make sure he didn’t hurt himself this time. Now there was only the pitches of sound that filled the room and him.

He’d lost count of how many pitches they’d tested. How many different frequencies of sound.

“This is for your own good.” They’d said.

“This is so we can block out the sounds that do this to you.” A necessary test. This was a test that all SOLDIERs who made it to first class went through. Even Zack had gone through this test though it had probably been in a nicer more comfortable room and if Zack had seized they’d probably stopped and let him rest instead of pushing on to the next sound.

He could remember just vaguely seeing the blockers tucked behind Zack’s ears during missions.

“We don’t always register the sounds.” He’d admitted. “We can hear them but our brains classify them as background noise so we ignore them.”

There was a story that went through the ranks on occasion that Sephiroth had failed a mission once because of a frequency that had sent him into full body convulsions. It had only been due to the interference of Commanders Hewley and Rhapsodos that he hadn’t been killed.

“Sometimes all it takes is the right sound and we’re down. But these,” Zack had paused to thumb at the dampener behind his ear, “these filter out the frequencies that can hurt us somehow.”

Somehow Cloud really doubted that he was going to get a set of his own dampeners once the tests were over.

\-----

Cloud’s finger twitched against the cold metal of the table beneath him. It had been awhile since he’d been here last. A good long while and really he hadn’t missed it. 

But there was testing to be done so here he was laying as still as he could while the doctors did something above him. He couldn’t quite tell what but he didn’t mind. Whatever it was they were doing was for his own good after all.

Everything they did was to help him. They needed to know as much as they could because the more they knew the better SOLDIER they could make him.

And he was going to be the best of them.

The greatest SOLDIER since Sephiroth.

All he had to do was be quiet and still as they worked and he could do that. He was very good at doing as he was told. He hadn’t been at first. He’d been horrible at it when he and Zack had first arrived but now he was good at it.

Hojo told him that all the time. He was a good boy. 

He was going to be Hojo’s greatest achievement. 

Cloud’s fingers twitched as something tapped against the bones in his spine. It hurt but it was a pain he was familiar with a pain that he could withstand.

“We’ll start with the lumbar and work our way up. If this goes well we’ll see about testing the Sacrum and Coccyx next.” Hojo’s voice floated down from somewhere above Cloud.

There were several words exchanged between the people standing above him before Hojo spoke to Cloud directly.

“I need you to hold very still.” Cloud blinked. “Because this is going to hurt.”

There was a moment of silence before something cut through the air above Cloud’s head and then there was only bone shattering agony.

\----

“Failure.”

The word rang softly in his ear.

“...no longer responsive.... mako…”

He thinks that the voice is talking about him. Whoever he is.

“Leave them both…. No need for useless ....”

Them?

Is there someone else with him?

He wants to open his eyes and look. Check to see if the voice has found someone else to …

To what?

What had the voice been doing?

“Leave them there…. I don’t care….they die in those…”

He wished he could hear what the voice was saying. That he could understand why he sounded so mad.

“Were supposed to be…….. My greatest since……. Useless failure…”

He’s sorry he failed. Sorry the voice apparently wasted his time on him when he had better things to do.

He’s sorry.

Who’s he apologizing too?

And what for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sticking with tradition this is a day late but I'm not to bothered by that. Lol. It's been fun and I'm glad I actually made it through these. Now off to start NaNoWriMo because I didn't learn my lesson already.
> 
> I'll be posting more in the future hopefully.

**Author's Note:**

> Not 100% correct hanging but eh. Not all of these are going to be completely accurate. 
> 
> The list of Whumptober prompts I'm using can be found here: https://onemuseleft.tumblr.com/post/628168836018028544/whumptober-2020-updated


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